After a humiliating defeat in the Khadakwasla by-election, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, has swung into action and decided to convene a meeting of the NCP ministers in Maharashtra to decide on a strategy for the ensuing elections to the civic bodies and local self government in November and March next year.
Pawar, at his meeting with the state party unit chief Madhukar Pichad and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Tuesday, reviewed the reasons for party candidate Harshada Wanjale’s defeat to the BJP nominee Bhimrao Tapkir by a margin of 3,635 votes.
Pawar’s move is not unusual, as his intervention helped ease the tension between his nephew and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and the media. Further, NCP chief intervened to avoid blame game against the party and the Shiv Sena.
Pichad told Business Standard: “Defeat is a defeat. The party has taken the issue quite seriously. We discussed the issue at the meeting with our party chief who will soon meet the NCP ministers to work out a comprehensive strategy for the coming elections to 195 municipalities, 10 municipal corporations and 27 zilla parishad during November and March next year."
He informed that as per the state party directive the booth wise meetings would take place soon to analyse the loss of party's candidate in the Khadakwasla by election. The meeting is crucial as NCP plans to go solo in some of these bodies while strike alliance with Congress in Thane, Mumbai and select few where it has very little following.
NCP minister, who did not want to be identified, admitted that a series of corrective measures are required to put a show of unity within the party and also to take leaders and party members from all castes and communities into confidence.
"Ajit Pawar is a great leader as he can see the work of legislators and party workers are properly pursued and done. However, Ajit Pawar needs to take extra efforts to get the party candidates elected. He has to follow our leader Sharad Pawar's strategy of taking all sections together without undermining of rediculing the opposition."
The minister hoped that NCP chief at the proposed meeting with the party ministers and senior leaders would certainly give much needed tips to increase NCP's tally in the municipalities, municipal corporations and zilla parishad.
Another NCP leader, who is the member of party's state executive, said "The party has to learn a lesson that its candidate cannot win elections only on the support of financial assistance. NCP will have to revisit its election strategy especially when the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP with their new ally the Republican Party of India would make all efforts to encash public resentment against the Congress-NCP government."
