Unsure who to back in Pawar tussle, many NCP MLAs sat on fence throughout assembly session

Mumbai: Almost a month after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar broke ranks with his party to join the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, a bulk of NCP legislators are still confused about which camp to support. This was evident during the now-concluded session of the Maharashtra assembly — the first since Pawar’s move — which a majority of NCP MLAs barely attended.

The three-week monsoon session, which ended on 4 August, saw many MLAs arrive only to mark their attendance, a senior NCP MLA from the camp of party supremo Sharad Pawar told ThePrint.
“Those who have switched sides are upset. We were counting their attendance inside the House and there were barely a few — you could count them on your fingertips. They were there in the lobby, but not inside the House; those inside would also come only for a couple of minutes and go. There was no active participation or involvement from many MLAs. All are confused,” he said.

On 2 July, Ajit Pawar split from the NCP led by his uncle, Sharad Pawar — part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi — and was sworn in as a deputy chief minister in the Eknath Shinde-led state government. Subsequently, he and several NCP legislators from his camp were allocated cabinet portfolios, with Pawar himself getting the ministries of finance and planning. He has claimed to have the support of the majority of the NCP’s MLAs, and has tried to claim the party’s name and symbol.

However, sources from both NCP camps said that while some MLAs have publicly supported one of the factions, many are still neutral and chose not to sit in the House during the assembly session to avoid being seen supporting either side. It must be noted that neither camp has declared how many MLAs are with them.

“It is true that many came to the assembly but did not sit inside the House. However, the reason for their absence is not known yet,” said senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh.

According to an official of the NCP office at the Vidhan Sabha, the party hasn’t been very particular in maintaining attendance records as “there is confusion”.

According to the records of the Vidhan Bhavan — where both houses of the state legislature are located — 82 percent of legislators attended the monsoon session. However, the Vidhan Bhavan refused to share the party-wise break-up.

Those NCP MLAs who did sit in the House also steered clear of targeting each other.

“The reason could be that many of the MLAs are still undecided and both the camps are trying to get more MLAs on their side,” said political analyst Hemant Desai.

“They still don’t know what to do. Those who have switched sides feel that they may still need Sharad Pawar to get re-elected, while those who have stayed neutral feel that if they show their allegiance, they might not receive funds for their constituency,” said Desai.