NCP infighting reaches Delhi, Amit Shah said to be unhappy over party turmoil

Since the untimely death of Ajit Dada, infighting within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has spilled into the open several times. Senior party leaders have now taken their grievances not only to the party but also to the top leaders of an allied party. Earlier, a dispute had surfaced involving state president Sunil Tatkare, senior leader Praful Patel and the Pawar family.

The matter has flared up again over the role of Parth Pawar. The appointments made to the posts of national spokesperson and Mumbai president triggered the latest row. According to sources, the dispute has now reached the Delhi leadership. Leaders complained about it to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, after which a meeting was held in Delhi. Sources said that at the meeting Shah expressed displeasure over the turmoil within the NCP and said it was affecting the government.

Sources said senior party leaders are unhappy over the appointment of Zeeshan Siddique and some other appointments. The leaders' reaction was that they learnt of these appointments through the media. There was resentment among the leaders against Parth Pawar's decision, and they met Amit Shah. According to sources, Parth Pawar and Sunetra Pawar were the subject of complaints at this meeting. The thrust of the complaint was that senior leaders were ignored when appointments were made to the posts of Mumbai president, national spokesperson and others.

A meeting was then held at Chhagan Bhujbal's residence. A core committee meeting followed, in which senior leaders voiced their displeasure. Sources also said a clear message that the party's dispute is affecting the government has been conveyed to Devgiri. Those present at yesterday's meeting included Sunil Tatkare, Praful Patel, ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Hasan Mushrif, former minister Dhananjay Munde and other leaders.

The echoes of the displeasure in Delhi are now being heard in Mumbai too. Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar has called a meeting of all NCP MLAs. It is the first such meeting in the past four months. This has added to the importance of the meeting, which is being held on the eve of Diwali. It will take place at the Devgiri bungalow at 7 pm today.

On the other hand, NCP spokesperson Umesh Patil has said that the meeting between the party's leaders and Amit Shah in Delhi had been scheduled in advance. He also said that some people are deliberately spreading talk of a dispute, mischievously, to split the party.