No merger with Congress: NCP

Pawar's confidant says NCP has no justification for a separate identity

June 30, 2010 01:43 am | Updated November 28, 2021 09:04 pm IST - MUMBAI:

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday dismissed a suggestion from a founding member of the party that it merge with the Congress. In a letter to NCP president Sharad Pawar, Ratnakar Mahajan, a close confidant of his, said the NCP had no justification for a separate identity.

Dr. Mahajan, a former head of the Maharashtra planning board, was left out in the cold with no post in the party. NCP State president Madhukar Pichad said there was no need for Dr. Mahajan to have sent this letter to the media. “He could have taken the party into confidence first,” Mr. Pichad said. He maintained that the NCP would not take cognisance of the letter and there was no question of any action against Dr. Mahajan.

He indicated that Dr. Mahajan had met him demanding some post in the party some time ago. Home Minister R.R. Patil too pointed out that Dr. Mahajan had no problem while he was in the party for 10 years. He did not think it would end up as the “B team” of the Congress as he had suggested.

Dr. Mahajan's letter recommended that the NCP do some introspection on its identity and its failure to establish a separate ideological or political base separate from the Congress.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.