Two senior leaders quit NCP

With the Maharashtra Assembly elections just 75 days away, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar is facing an existential crisis.

Two senior leaders have quit the party, and more are on the way out.

Last week, former minister Sachin Ahir and the State Women’s Wing president Chitra Wagh quit the party.

Sources in the BJP and the Shiv Sena have indicated that senior leaders such as Chhagan Bhujbal and Ganesh Naik are also looking to quit. NCP MLA Vaibhav Pichad had announced on Saturday that he was keen to join the BJP. He is the son of veteran NCP leader Madhukar Pichad.

Ahir known for his aggressive style was a close confidant of Sharad Pawar.

Quitting from the post of NCP’s Mumbai unit chief, Ahir has joined the Shiv Sena, which shares power with the BJP in Maharashtra.

Wagh, on the other hand, has joined the BJP.

She had excellent equations with Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, who is the de facto deputy chief of the party.

A BJP insider said that both the BJP and the Shiv Sena are trying to win over disgruntled leaders in the NCP. There is almost a race to win the favourable candidates or the winning horse.

But for the NCP, the battle is getting more serious, it is a matter of survival for the party and the party chief Sharad Pawar.

The major defeat faced by the party in the Lok Sabha is one of the causes of the turmoil.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Mallik told BusinessLine that due to high profile exits there would be a temporary vacuum in the party but it will also allow other leaders to emerge.

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