Shinde minister says sitting next to NCP leaders nauseating, Pawar's party says better to quit

Mumbai: Shiv Sena minister Tanaji Sawant has said that he sits next to his NCP peers at Maharashtra cabinet meetings but feels like vomiting after coming out, exposing the fissure within the ruling alliance.

An upset NCP said it would be better to leave the government than put up with such statements.

Speaking at an event on Thursday in Dharashiv, formerly Osmanabad, Sawant, who is also the state health minister, called himself a “hardcore Shiv Sainik who never got along” with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders.

“Even if we sit next to each other in the cabinet, I feel like vomiting after coming out,” Sawant said.

The BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar's NCP are partners in the state’s ruling Mahayuti coalition in the state.

Hitting back, the NCP said it is better to quit the alliance than to listen to such statements.

“My request to our senior party leaders would be that we quit Mahayuti rather than listen to such statements. Either Tanaji Sawant should be sacked or we should quit the alliance,” party spokesperson Umesh Patil said.

NCP spokesperson and Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Amol Mitkari condemned Sawant's remark and asked whether it was the responsibility of only his party to keep the alliance intact.

Sawant has made remarks in the past that have hurt the NCP, he said.

“We are quiet only to maintain the coalition dharma,” Mitkari said.

It is only the chief minister who can "treat" his nausea, the NCP leader added.

The rival NCP (SP) latched onto Sawant's remark, saying it's time for the BJP to throw Ajit Pawar's party out of Mahayuti. It’s also the time for Ajit Pawar to “wake up and smell the coffee”, quipped the rival party led by his uncle Sharad Pawar.

NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said Sawant's remark shows that Mahayuti does not need the NCP any longer. The RSS' mouthpiece (Organiser) had questioned the BJP why they aligned with Ajit Pawar. The BJP cadre is also posing the same question, he said.

Now, Shinde Sena leaders are saying derogatory things like “feeling nauseating when they sit next to NCP leaders”, Crasto said.

“The time has come when the BJP will, slowly but steadily, throw Ajit Pawar out of Mahayuti. All is not well and cracks are getting bigger by the day.

"It is time for Ajit Pawar to wake up and smell the coffee,” Crasto said.

Mahesh Tapase, another NCP (SP) spokesperson, claimed that Ajit Pawar has lost his self-respect and there is growing discontent within the ranks of the Shinde-led Sena over the alliance with NCP.

“I never imagined that Ajit Dada, who once commanded immense respect within the NCP, would compromise his self-respect for power,” Tapase said.

The growing discomfort among Shinde Sena members over Ajit Pawar's inclusion in the government has now been starkly revealed through Sawant's remarks, Tapase said.

Minister Tanaji Sawant's statement has effectively erased Ajit Dada's political standing, and yet, his own party members remain silent, Tapase said.

Given the current state of affairs, the NCP might not even secure 25 seats in the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra, and it is this desperation that has led to such humiliating treatment, Tapase further claimed.

The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split in July 2023 when Ajit Pawar and MLAs loyal to him broke away to join the Mahayuti. Subsequently, the Ajit Pawar faction got the party name and its clock symbol. Since the split, both factions have been targeting each other.

The rumblings within the Mahayuti have become louder after it won only 17 of the 48 seats in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha elections. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress, performed better by winning 30 seats.