At 11,NCP is growing smaller

What’s clear as the latest anniversary of the NCP comes around is that the party,whose president once aspired to become the prime minister,is now praying for a second chance. While it has tried to project itself as a national party,it has mainly remained based in Maharashtra apart from presence in a few states. While it once was the senior partner in its relationship with the Congress in the state,it now exists only as its uncomfortable ally,trying to justify why it has a distinct identity or existence when neither seems to be the case. And while Pawar once had a reputation of being an able administrator,he is fending off charges of ignoring his responsibilities as Union Agriculture Minister in pursuit of his other interest: cricket.

The NCP was formed in 1999 when Pawar broke away from the Congress on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins. It was his biggest gamble after he had toppled the Congress government led by Vasantdada Patil in Maharashtra in 1978 by forming the ‘Progressive Democratic Front’,only to return to the Congress in 1986.

His party had projected him as the prime ministerial candidate in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls last year and he had hobnobbed with leaders of regional parties (including the Shiv Sena) indicating that in event of a fractured mandate,his options were open,like they were in 1978.

However,his dreams were shattered by the NCP’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls. Still,the Congress retained Pawar and Praful Patel in the Union council of ministers,as well as accommodated Agatha Sangma (the daughter of P A Sangma) as a minister of state. The NCP that was dreaming of making Pawar the prime minister ended up playing second fiddle to the Congress as it had won just nine seats.

After Agatha became a minister and Sangma Sr met Sonia,some senior Congressmen like Digvijay Singh,Prithviraj Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh called for the merger of the NCP with the Congress,questioning the separate existence as Sonia’s foreign origin was no more an issue and as both the parties followed a similar ideology. The NCP resisted it,hoping that it would improve its performance in the Maharashtra Assembly polls.

However,that was not to be. The NCP’s tally fell from 71 seats in 2004 to only 62 (in the House of 288) in 2009. The Congress’s numbers rose to 82,which meant the NCP had to play the second fiddle in its own fiefdom.

The partnership has been one of unease,with the two clashing on several occasions,on issues like the invitation to Amitabh Bachchan for a government function,provision of police protection from the MNS to Shah Rukh Khan’s film My Name Is Khan,appointment of the state police chief,transfer of the Pune police commissioner,redevelopment of Mantralaya,and NCP minister Padmakar Valvi asking Chavan to probe into financial transactions of the Tribal Development Department headed by NCP minister Babanrao Pachpute. In the latest case,both parties have fielded their own candidates for the RS elections from Maharashtra.

On the party front,Pawar has managed to rope in powerful Maratha politicians (who rule their fiefdoms in rural Maharashtra through cooperatives) to form the backbone of the party,as well as encouraged politicians like OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal.

However,the Maratha leaders as well as others like Bhujbal and Ganesh Naik have one thing in common: they have promoted dynastic politics. With Pawar himself grooming daughter Supriya Sule and nephew Ajit Pawar as successors,hardly anybody questions the same in the NCP. “There is nothing wrong in encouraging the younger generation in politics and being the son or daughter of a politician is not a disqualification,” a senior NCP leader says. “Even Pawarsaheb has groomed Supriya and Ajit.”

With his relationship with the Congress tentative,Pawar has also kept channels of communication open with other parties,including of different ideologies,and that goes for party leaders as well. “When even Pawarsaheb visits Balasaheb Thackeray,what is wrong if we maintain good relations with people from opposition parties?” an NCP leader says. Trying to fight the IPL cloud,and with the NCP’s space increasingly crowded by the Congress,the party is now planning to forge a new territory for Pawar. It is trying to project the NCP chief as a pan-India farmer leader — perhaps hoping to whitewash his Agriculture Ministry stint in the process — to expand base to other states. “Our strategy is to win at least 50 seats in the next Lok Sabha,” an NCP leader says,adding that measures were being taken to strengthen the party and to make its national presence felt.