Will suffer badly in assembly polls if we continue with ‘stepbrother’ NCP: BJP leaders

Mumbai: Days after Shiv Sena leader and state minister Tanaji Sawant made controversial comments against Mahayuti partner, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Latur added fuel to the fire, saying that the alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led party was uncalled for.
BJP spokesperson Ganesh Hake termed the alliance with NCP unfortunate and said it was an incompatible marriage. “Neither the NCP nor the BJP like the alliance, which is an association with bad people. We will suffer badly if we continue with it in Assembly polls,” he said.
Hake also alleged that NCP legislators like Balasaheb Patil [from the Ahmedpur constituency in Latur] did not work for the BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, resulting in his defeat. “We will suffer badly if we continue with [the NCP] in the assembly polls,” he said.
The BJP’s Latur district president Dilip Deshmukh then echoed Hake’s remarks, saying it was beyond his understanding why the BJP joined hands with the Ajit Pawar-led party. “BJP and Shiv Sena are real brothers, while NCP is the stepbrother. The BJP leaders at the local level are convinced that our party has damaged our career by joining hands with Ajit Pawar,” Deshmukh said.
Pawar responded to the remarks cautiously, saying, “The alliance of BJP and NCP was a decision taken after discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah. I am not supposed to reply [to such remarks],” he said.
Pawar also told reporters that his party leaders could also speak against their allies, but they are not doing so. Senior NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal said the leaders of all Mahayuti partners need to tell their spokespersons and others to ensure there is no bitterness between the three parties.
The barbs by the ruling party leaders against each other have exposed the discomfort within the Mahayuti alliance ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
On Thursday, state health minister and Shiv Sena leader Tanaji Sawant kicked up a controversy when he said he feels nauseated sitting next to NCP ministers during state cabinet meetings. “I never got along with NCP and Congress leaders all my life as I am a hardcore Shiv Sanik. We sit next to each other in cabinet meetings. But after coming out, I feel like vomiting,” he said.
Sawant’s remarks led to strong reactions from NCP leaders, with its state chief Sunil Tatkare saying they had expressed their unhappiness to chief minister Eknath Shinde. NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil said that his party leaders will not attend cabinet meetings until Sawant is sacked.
During and after the Lok Sabha elections,too, leaders from three parties had levelled allegations of not working for the alliance’s candidates. “There is anger among BJP and Shiv Sena leaders over NCP as they feel that Ajit Pawar’s workers did not work for alliance candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. The infighting is likely to grow further as [the assembly] elections near,” said a leader from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde said that the ultimate calls in the alliance are taken by Shinde and his two deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. “Such statements by the lower-rung leaders create unnecessary friction and discomfort. We are, however, going to face the assembly elections as one force and come back to power.”
Shinde has summoned Sawant to Mumbai, with party insiders saying that the chief minister is not happy with the latter over his remarks against the NCP.