Pawar propped rebels to hit Cong, say MLAs

The Congress’ top line leaders are avoiding a direct shot at Pawar at this juncture but the MLAs who gathered for an introductory session at the party’s south Mumbai HQ, Gandhi Bhavan, on Monday, are not shying away. ‘‘He betrayed (Pawar) us in at least six constituencies,’’ said an MLA from Marathwada. He said in Parbhani, where the Congress suffered due to Pawar’s ‘‘duplicity’’, the party could have won two seats where NCP rebels walked away with the honours.

‘‘Pawar saheb could have stopped his rebel candidates. Instead he seemed to have encouraged them to fight against us. Whereas we supported NCP whole-heartedly,’’ said a senior state party office-bearer on condition of anonymity.

In Singnapur, NCP’s Lok Sabha nominee from Parbhani, Suresh Varpudkar, contested as an Independent to defeat Congress’ Raosaheb Jamkar by more than 22,000 votes. Another charge against Pawar is that he plotted rebel (also NCP’s sitting MLC) Ramprasad Kadam Bordikar’s win over Congress’ Kundlikrao Nagre. Neither rebel was expelled from the NCP. NCP’s general secretary Gurunath Kulkarni denied the charge. ‘‘The partyman contesting against an official alliance partner stood expelled as per the party’s constitution,’’ he said.

Another rebel who is said to have enjoyed Pawar’s blessings is Madan Patil who defeated Congress’ Dinkar Patil from Sangli. Patil too didn’t find a place in NCP’s list of 20-odd expelled rebels.

The NCP, however, forced Congress to throw out its rebel from Vai in Satara district, Madan Bhosle. The son of former MPCC chief Prataprao Bhosle, who quit Congress, went on to win the contest hands down. ‘‘The Congress wanted to contest from Vai but Pawar insisted on having it for NCP,’’ said a Congress leader.

In Kolhapur district where NCP veteran Digvijay Khanvilkar lost to a Congress rebel Bunty Patil, compensation came in from Radhanagari through rebellious ex-district unit chief, K P Patil, who pipped Congress’ Bajrang Desai by 55,340 votes. In Shrigonda (Ahmednagar) too, NCP ex-state president Babanrao Pachpute trounced Congress’ Shivajirao Nagvade.

‘‘Was it possible for Pachpute to do it without Pawar’s support?’’ said an MLA from western Maharashtra. NCP’s Gurunath Kulkarni countered: ‘‘It’s a baseless allegation. Pachpute had quit NCP before remaining in the fray.’’