Ajit Pawar NCP Faction Appoints Raigad MP Sunil Tatkare As Party President For Maharashtra

The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP has named the NCP's Raigad MP in the Lok Sabha the party's Maharashtra unit president.

NCP's Raigad MP in Lok Sabha Sunil Tatkare and his daughter Aditi Tatkare, who is the party's MLA from the Shrivardhan constituency. ( Image Source :Instagram@suniltatkarespeaks )

Rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar has appointed Sunil Tatkare the party's state unit's president. Sunil Tatkare, the party's Lok Sabha MP from the Raigad constituency of Maharashtra, is the father of Aditi Tatkare. Aditi took oath as a minister in the Eknath Shinde Cabinet on Sunday. Aditi Tatkare is the party's MLA from the Shrivardhan constituency. She was appointed as the national general secretary of NCP.

Just an hour before being elevated by Ajit Pawar, Sunil Tatkare was "removed" from the party by NCP president Sharad Pawar for indulging in "anti-party activities". The removal came minutes after NCP working president Supriya Sule recommended disciplinary action against Tatkare and Praful Patel, who, too, was removed from the party. Praful Patel had been elevated to the post of the working president of NCP just weeks before, when the party was still united.

Sunil Tatkare is facing cases of land grabbing and owning assets disproportionate to his income. He was named in the chargesheet filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2016. Tatkare is accused in the multi-crore Maharashtra irrigation scam. Tatkare, who was the irrigation minister between 2010 and 2014 is accused of engaging in financial irregularities and violation of norms in Raigad's Kondane irrigation project. Ironically, it was the Devendra Fadnavis government that had given the nod to launch the investigation against him in 2015.  Tatkare was blamed for a 400% cost escalation in the project — from Rs 80.35 crore to Rs 327 crore.

Ajit Pawar sprung a surprise on the Maha Vikas Aghadi on Sunday when he reached Raj Bhavan to take oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra. NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that he was unaware of his nephew's plan and asserted that MLAs may leave NCP, but the party command remained with him. Ajit Pawar, however, claimed that he now commanded the "real NCP" as he had the support of 40 out of the 53 party MLAs and six of the nine MLCs.

Following the rebellion, NCP president Sharad Pawar on Monday removed MPs Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel from the party for indulging in "anti-party activities". The other NCP leaders who took oath with Ajit Pawar were Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Dhananjay Munde, Aditi Tatkare, Sanjay Baburao Bansode, Anil Bhaidas Patil, and Dharmarao Atram.

Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar was "unanimously elected" as the leader of the legislature party. "We have informed Maharashtra Assembly Speaker about our decision," Praful Patel said on Monday. However, the question on the "NCP's president" still remains. Ajit Pawar, who claims to command the "real NCP" fielded the question about who will be NCP national president now, saying: "Have you forgotten that Sharad Pawar is the party's national president?"

He also said: "I have come to know from media reports that action has been taken against 9 of our MLAs. We have sent an application to Maharashtra Assembly Speaker to disqualify Jayant Patil and Jitendra Awhad. "The majority of the NCP MLAs is with me. That is why I became the Deputy CM of Maharashtra," he added.