Mumbai:
Sharad Pawar, head of the NCP, announced this evening that he has accepted the resignation of his nephew Ajit as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. He also stressed that those looking for "Pawar vs Pawar masala" will be disappointed - a pointed denial of a rift with Ajit.
Ajit surprised the NCP and its political partner, the Congress, on Tuesday evening by declaring that he was quitting over allegations that he orchestrated a 72,000 crore scam during an earlier ten-year stint as the state's Irrigation Minister.
Sources said his anger was directed at two people - his uncle, who he believes overlooks him, and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress, who has asked for a white paper or financial explanation of the expenditure that Ajit sanctioned on irrigation projects, with very little to show for it -just 0.1% additional land was brought under irrigation, according to the state's last economic survey. On record, the NCP has said it welcomes the white paper because it will exonerate Ajit, but sources say that in reality, the party is livid with the post-mortem.
The specter of a family feud has loomed over the political crisis with many suggesting that Ajit had resigned in a fit of petulance and to drive home the fact that he is a power centre worthy of a larger role, namely that of Mr Pawar's political heir, a post largely assumed reserved for the senior leader's daughter, Supriya Sule.
After Ajit resigned, all other 19 NCP ministers in the Maharashtra government sent in their resignation letters to a party official in a somewhat gratuitous show of solidarity. NCP state legislators also held a meeting with Ajit on Wednesday, though the party's central leadership told the media that the session had been cancelled. At that meeting, MLAs asked Ajit to withdraw his resignation, but said Mr Pawar, as president, should take the final call. He was quick to assert that would be the case. In a series of statements, Mr Pawar attempted downsize his nephew's stature. He said "senior party leadership" would decide Ajit's future, and said more than once that his permission had been sought - and sanctioned - before Ajit wrote his letter of resignation to the Chief Minister.
Ajit's decision to surrender the second-most powerful position in the Maharashta government, run jointly by the NCP and Congress for 12 years, is seen as a big gamble. Flanked by other NCP ministers, he wants to pressure the Congress to drop Mr Chavan as Chief Minister, an option ruled out by the Congress. The NCP is convinced that reports linking their leaders to graft are being planted by Mr Chavan's camp.
Sources say that Ajit also wants his party to pull out of the government and provide external support to the Congress in Maharashtra, a possibility Mr Pawar has ruled out. 53-year-old Ajit believes that the NCP must grow its supporter base in Maharashtra, so that it can stop playing second fiddle to the Congress as its junior partner in government. As long as they remain wedded, he feels, the NCP will not be perceived - even within its own ranks- as a force capable of leading the state alone. Younger MLAs in the state support him.
His ambition to lead the party was undisguised when the Congress and NCP won the election in 2009. He was livid that Mr Pawar chose another NCP senior, Chhagan Bhujbal, as Deputy Chief Minister. After a prolonged sulk, Ajit succeeded in replacing Mr Bhujbal, propelled by the over-whelming support of the party's state legislators.
Ajit surprised the NCP and its political partner, the Congress, on Tuesday evening by declaring that he was quitting over allegations that he orchestrated a 72,000 crore scam during an earlier ten-year stint as the state's Irrigation Minister.
Sources said his anger was directed at two people - his uncle, who he believes overlooks him, and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress, who has asked for a white paper or financial explanation of the expenditure that Ajit sanctioned on irrigation projects, with very little to show for it -just 0.1% additional land was brought under irrigation, according to the state's last economic survey. On record, the NCP has said it welcomes the white paper because it will exonerate Ajit, but sources say that in reality, the party is livid with the post-mortem.
The specter of a family feud has loomed over the political crisis with many suggesting that Ajit had resigned in a fit of petulance and to drive home the fact that he is a power centre worthy of a larger role, namely that of Mr Pawar's political heir, a post largely assumed reserved for the senior leader's daughter, Supriya Sule.
After Ajit resigned, all other 19 NCP ministers in the Maharashtra government sent in their resignation letters to a party official in a somewhat gratuitous show of solidarity. NCP state legislators also held a meeting with Ajit on Wednesday, though the party's central leadership told the media that the session had been cancelled. At that meeting, MLAs asked Ajit to withdraw his resignation, but said Mr Pawar, as president, should take the final call. He was quick to assert that would be the case. In a series of statements, Mr Pawar attempted downsize his nephew's stature. He said "senior party leadership" would decide Ajit's future, and said more than once that his permission had been sought - and sanctioned - before Ajit wrote his letter of resignation to the Chief Minister.
Ajit's decision to surrender the second-most powerful position in the Maharashta government, run jointly by the NCP and Congress for 12 years, is seen as a big gamble. Flanked by other NCP ministers, he wants to pressure the Congress to drop Mr Chavan as Chief Minister, an option ruled out by the Congress. The NCP is convinced that reports linking their leaders to graft are being planted by Mr Chavan's camp.
Sources say that Ajit also wants his party to pull out of the government and provide external support to the Congress in Maharashtra, a possibility Mr Pawar has ruled out. 53-year-old Ajit believes that the NCP must grow its supporter base in Maharashtra, so that it can stop playing second fiddle to the Congress as its junior partner in government. As long as they remain wedded, he feels, the NCP will not be perceived - even within its own ranks- as a force capable of leading the state alone. Younger MLAs in the state support him.
His ambition to lead the party was undisguised when the Congress and NCP won the election in 2009. He was livid that Mr Pawar chose another NCP senior, Chhagan Bhujbal, as Deputy Chief Minister. After a prolonged sulk, Ajit succeeded in replacing Mr Bhujbal, propelled by the over-whelming support of the party's state legislators.
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