NCP core committee keeps Siddique, Patil in posts; Tatkare, Patel roles not discussed

The infighting within the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) since the death of Ajit Pawar has come out in the open and shows no sign of abating. The party's core committee met today, but little was heard on the disputed issue.

Several reasons are being cited for the growing resentment in the party. One is Parth Pawar's increasing interference in the party's functioning, and the other is the party's failure in the Legislative Council election. It is also being said that some senior party leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi and complained directly about Parth Pawar. For this reason, it was expected that the dispute would echo at today's meeting.

The meeting was held at 9.30 am today at Devgiri residence and was chaired by Sunetra Pawar. Party leaders Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Dhananjay Munde, Hasan Mushrif and Sameer Bhujbal were present. Parth Pawar also attended.

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar are said to have both kept silent on the party's internal dispute. Speculation is now rife about what is on the minds of the two. There is also talk of whether the unrest within the party will end.

The question of appointments also came up. Sunetra Pawar and Parth Pawar had recently announced some appointments in the party. It was decided to retain them. Under this, Zeeshan Siddique will continue as the NCP's Mumbai president and Umesh Patil as chief spokesperson.

According to sources, Parth Pawar said at the meeting that a decision on the two would be taken after reviewing their work over the next six months. It is also reported that Parth Pawar reiterated that decisions in future would be taken only with the core committee on board.

Most significantly, there was no discussion at today's meeting on the posts of state president Sunil Tatkare and the party's national working president Praful Patel. Sources said confusion still persists over the posts of these two leaders. Surprise is being expressed within the party that no decision was taken on these posts.