Narendra B Verma, National General Secretary/North East Incharge of the then undivided Nationalist Congress Party with 7 elected legislators of the party and others during press conference in Kohima on March 4. (Morung File Photo)
Morung Express News
Dimapur | July 22
The decision by the Nagaland Unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to support Ajit Pawar is the application of the same yardstick used in the state at the national level, a top functionary of the state unit said on Saturday.
In a huge setback for Sharad Pawar, the spokesperson of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Brajmohan Srivastava, announced on July 20 that the Nagaland unit has decided to work under the latter's leadership.
Back in Nagaland after officially conveying the decision to National Working President Praful Patel and State President Maharashtra Sunil Tatkare, NCP Nagaland Unit President Vanthungo Odyuo reasoned that it was a natural progression.
In March, the party announced the decision to join the Neiphiu Rio-led People's Democratic Alliance in Nagaland, which is in turn part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre, he said.
As the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is part of the NDA, it is the application of the same yardstick, he maintained.
Incidentally, Odyuo informed that the state unit had already made the decision to support the Ajit Pawar side on June 30 itself, and affidavits affirming support were signed by the seven NCP legislators as well as office bearers on that day.
The meeting with Patel and others in New Delhi was simply to convey the decision in person, he added.
It must be noted here that the PTI news agency reported on July 5 that the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in a statement said the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been informed through an affidavit that he was elected NCP chief through a resolution dated June 30, 2023, signed by an "overwhelming majority" of members of NCP, both from the legislative and organisational wing.
On the second day of the resolution on July 2, a political shake-up occurred in Maharashtra resulting in Ajit Pawar being sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister in the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
Interestingly, there was a Nagaland "angle" to the development, with Ajit Pawar reportedly telling a press conference afterwards that if the NCP can join "hands with the BJP in Nagaland, then why not in Maharashtra."
Odyuo, meanwhile, maintained that as a ‘loyal’ party worker for over 14 years, he has the utmost respect for its founder Sharad Pawar, and reiterated that the current decision was just the application of a similar "yardstick" within and outside the state.
"On time will tell," he maintained when asked whether the state unit would change if the current "dispute case" with the ECI over the name and symbol of the party was decided in favour of Senior Pawar.
Meanwhile, the July 20 press announcement informed that the entire state executive and district office of NCP Nagaland, after "deep discussion and deliberation, have decided that they will strengthen the party in Nagaland" by working under the leadership of Ajit Pawar and National Working President Patel.
Odyuo, who was elected as the Nagaland unit President earlier this month, had come to New Delhi to inform of the decision and handed over affidavits of support to all office bearers, including the seven MLAs, it added.
