In a major setback to the NCP Ajit Pawar faction, four top leaders of the party from Maharashtra's Pimpri Chinchwad unit resigned on Tuesday. This comes as Ajit Pawar's wife and Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar visited the Modibaug area in Pune on Tuesday, where NCP founder Sharad Pawar has a house.
Ajit Gavhane, the chief of NCP's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit, sent his resignation letter to Ajit Pawar on Tuesday. He later confirmed that he quit the NCP. "I resigned yesterday, today we will have a meeting with all ex-corporators of another Vidhan Sabha constituency. We will then decide on our upcoming strategy," Gavhane told reporters on Wednesday morning.
He added that he was meeting Sharad Pawar to decide his future plans. "Today, we will meet Pawar Sahab (Sharad Pawar) to seek his blessings. We will make a decision together. Rahul Bhosale, Yash Sane and Pankaj Bhalekar have also resigned along with me," Gavhane added.
He said the Pimpri Chinchwad city was well developed and Ajit Pawar had contributed towards its growth. "Since 2017, BJP held PCMC (Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) and since then development has been off track. There has been corruption too and the sitting MLA is responsible for it," he added.
Besides Gavhane, Pimpri Chinchwad Students' Wing chief Yash Sane and former corporators Rahul Bhosale and Pankaj Bhalekar have also resigned. All of them are likely to join the Sharad Pawar faction.
Gavahane added that several NCP office-bearers, former corporators and leaders who support him were also planning to quit the NCP.
The Ajit Pawar faction received a major setback during the Lok Sabha elections where it managed to win just one seat - Raigad - while the Sharad Pawar faction bagged eight.
Sunetra's Modibaug visit
This came after Rajya Sabha member and Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar on Tuesday visited the Modibaug area in Pune, where NCP founder Sharad Pawar has a house. Though both parties did not confirm whether they met, this triggered rumours that she may have met Sharad Pawar.
However, NCP functionary Suraj Chavan said Sunetra went to Modibaug to meet the sister of Ajit Pawar.
On Monday, Chhagan Bhujbal, a senior leader of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, met Sharad Pawar. "Sharad Pawar is the senior most member of the Pawar family. So, if she met him, I think she did a very good thing," Bhujbal said.
