In Pawar Play After NCP Coup, Uncle vs Nephew, Rival Sackings

The rebel group of Nationalist Congress Party on Monday followed the template set by the breakaway Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, declaring its own "group" and "state unit" leaders and "sacking" Jayant Patil, the state chief of the faction led by Sharad Pawar. Calling it "structural changes", Praful Patel, sacked from the NCP a short while ago by Sharad Pawar, declared that Ajit Pawar has been appointed the "Group Leader" of the party. Asked who the party's national president is, the "Group Leader" responded "Sharad Pawar is the national president" -- a statement bound to add to the row.

"We request Sharad Pawar to accept the decision of majority in the party... We want his blessings," added Praful Patel. The contingency plan was spelt out by Ajit Pawar. "If there's any issue within the party, the Election Commission of India decides who has the party and symbol," he said.

Earlier on Monday, asked by a journalist whether Ajit Pawar's rebellion had his blessings, Sharad Pawar had lashed out. "It is a mean thing to say. Only those with a mean and low intellect can say this... I have set out on a tour of the state to galvanize the cadre. They should not feel disillusioned with what some leaders have done," Sharad Pawar said from Satara, where he paid tribute to his mentor and Maharashtra's first Chief Minister Yashwantrao Chavan.

The rebel leaders, following the Shinde template, had declared on Sunday that they are the NCP, avoiding any mention of Sharad Pawar, who had founded the party more than two decades ago and has nurtured it since. The rebels claimed that they have the support of practically the whole party.

On Monday, they said they have informed the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker about the parallel appointments and tit-for-tat sackings.

"We have also informed the Speaker that Anil Bhaidas Patil, who was the chief whip earlier too, will continue to be our whip. Whatever appointment we need to do, we will be doing everything officially ahead of monsoon session," said Praful Patel, who was present at the oath ceremony of Ajit Pawar at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday.

A short while ago, Pawar Senior had removed MPs Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare for allegedly engineering "secretive" defections. He also sacked three party leaders - Narendra Rathod, Vijay Deshmukh and Shivajirao Garje - for attending the oath ceremony. The faction has also moved disqualification notices against the MLAs who crossed over to the ruling alliance and took oath as ministers on Sunday.

Ajit Pawar declared that the notices have "no value". "There are notices against 9 of us, I don't think the notice has any value… We have the party with us," he said.

Praful Patel claimed that his fate lies only in the hands of the Speaker.

"I just want to say one thing clearly, that no disqualification or suspension can be done by any party. The ECI doesn't have the right as well. The right is of the Speaker and it is a long process and without the Speaker's approval, this can't happen," Mr Patel said.