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.