After Sharad Pawar, NCP’s Tough Balancing Act On Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar
The big succession question after veteran political leader Sharad Pawar’s stunning resignation as chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) two days ago could be answered tomorrow following a meeting in Mumbai, party sources said on Thursday.
A committee, appointed by Pawar to pick his successor after his resignation, will meet at 11 am at the party office in Mumbai, NCP sources said. If Mr Pawar remains firm on his decision, his daughter Supriya Sule is likely to become party chief, they said.
Announced in the wake of moves by his nephew Ajit Pawar supposedly to split the party and take over as chief, Sharad Pawar’s resignation has been seen by many as a calculated step to outflank an attempted coup.
The anointment of Sule, a member of parliament from her father’s home constituency in Maharashtra, would ensure the wily 82-year-old keeps the keys to the door.
Spelling out the name around which Mr Pawar’s loyalists seem to be coalescing, senior party leader Chaggan Bhujbal, told NDTV on Wednesday, “Ajit Pawar should take care of the state and (Supriya) Sule should take care of national politics. She should be the next national president if Sharad Pawar doesn’t want to continue as the president.”
Clearing the road for her on Thursday was the party’s Maharashtra unit chief, Jayant Patil, who said he has no desire to become the national president. The avowal echoed one by his colleague, Praful Patel, a day ago.
