Mumbai: NCP chief Sharad Pawar might have appointed Praful Patel as working president along with his (Pawar's) daughter Supriya Sule to blunt probable allegations of "dynastic politics", the Shiv Sena (UBT) said on Monday.
The editorial published in the party mouthpiece Saamana also termed the elevation of Ms Sule, a Lok Sabha member, and Mr Patel as working presidents of the Nationalist Congress Party a balancing act by Pawar between senior and new leaders.
“Along with his daughter's elevation as working president, Pawar has given the same title to Praful Patel. He did it to maintain a balance among the old and new guards in NCP,” Saamana said.
The editorial also pointed out that the NCP has already lost its national party status.
“Although Sharad Pawar had said that the appointment of two 'working presidents' is because of the vastness of the country, no other regional parties have made such appointments. It may be true,” the Sena said.
Referring to Mr Pawar's announcement to resign as NCP chief last month and subsequent withdrawal of the decision, Saamana said it was clear that Ms Sule would have got the reins of the party.
"But what message Pawar is trying to give by appointing Praful Patel as another working president? Patel might have been elevated to avoid allegations of dynastic politics in NCP with Sule's appointment to the position," Saamana said.
The editorial said there was no mention of any new responsibility to Ajit Pawar in the latest decisions taken at the NCP meeting in New Delhi.
"Rumours say that Ajit daada is disappointed. But he is an important player in Maharashtra's politics and he is not keen on working outside the state,” it said.
Ajit Pawar is the leader of the opposition in the state Assembly and a faction of MLAs close to him are said to be soft on the BJP, the Sena said.
It said the image of Ajit Pawar- nephew of Sharad Pawar- became negative when he took oath as deputy chief minister with Devendra Fadnavis of BJP as the chief minister in November 2019.
However, Ajit resigned after three days and returned to the NCP fold, which paved the way for the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with Shiv Sena (undivided) joining hands with NCP and Congress.
"Ajit Pawar will have to take a lot of effort to remove the blot (on his image),” the edit said.
The Shiv Sena also made a veiled reference to the Pawar senior saying he has not made any big changes in NCP but has just initiated a process for the same.
“Supriya Sule will have to pass the test. We will have to wait for some time,” Saamana said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)