Mumbai/New Delhi, Sep 27: The two-day-old political crisis in Maharashtra subsided Thursday with NCP chief Sharad Pawar indicating that the resignation of Ajit Pawar, state deputy chief minister and his nephew, is likely to be accepted.
Sharad Pawar is expected to reach Mumbai Thursday night and scheduled to meet Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on the issue which has brought the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance virtually to the brink.
Sharad Pawar told reporters in New Delhi that the issue of Ajit Pawar's resignation “has ended” and he would attempt to convince the party legislators not to insist in the matter (on him withdrawing the resignation).
Ajit Pawar abruptly quit the state cabinet Tuesday evening amid allegations by RTI and anti-corruption activists that he had arbitrarily doled out irrigation contracts worth over Rs.20,000 crore when he was the water resources minister from 1999-2009.
All 19 NCP ministers in the state cabinet also followed suit and offered their resignations to state NCP chief Madhukarrao Pichhad, sparking off a political crisis.
In a show of strength by Ajit Pawar's supporters Wednesday, the party's legislators had unanimously urged him to withdraw his resignation and authorised Sharad Pawar - who strongly welcomed his nephew's decision - to take a final call on the matter.
However, a day later, before the NCP chief's visit to Mumbai, the party took a strong stand against the wave of protests, agitations and resignations to express solidarity with Ajit Pawar.
Pichhad expressed his displeasure over the protests in Kolhapur, where all the top leaders had converged for the funeral of party's top leader and former speaker Babasaheb Kupekar, who died Wednesday in Mumbai.
”Protests bordering on hooliganism are not the nature of the NCP. The party president (Sharad Pawar) specifically told me this morning to ensure this... to see the message goes down the ranks not to indulge in such protests,” Pichhad said.
In a related development, the Congress also held a series of meetings with top party leaders and legislators. The meeting was conducted by Prithviraj Chavan and state Congress chief Manikrao Thakre.
The Congress legislators expressed full solidarity with Chavan who is yet to accept Ajit Pawar's resignation.
”We are in consultation with the NCP on this issue and we are confident that both parties will together resolve it soon,” Thakre said after the meeting.
Pawar's formal decision is likely to be announced Friday evening after his meetings with NCP leaders, ministers and legislators to discuss in depth the issue of resignations.
