Pune NCP President Deepak Mankar has said that his loyalty is with Ajit Pawar and that he won't leave the party. "Irrespective of whether he gives me a position or not, I will stay with him," Mankar said while speaking to news agency ANI. "I will leave politics and sit at home but will not upset Dada. We have the strongest organisation in Pune."
Deepak Mankar's comments came after Ajit Pawar's NCP suffered a major setback as the party's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavhane and three other leaders resigned and joined the NCP (SP) headed by Sharad Pawar.
NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal sought to play down the exit from the party, saying this happens in the election year. "When the elections are near, it is normal that people go from here to there or there to here. They think that they will not get the ticket so they want to contest from another party," Bhujbal said, adding that this will keep on happening for the next 3-4 months.
Earlier, it was reported that Bhujbal himself was upset with Ajit Pawar as he was denied a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections and was not sent to Rajya Sabha.
NCP's Pimpri-Chinchwad unit chief Ajit Gavahane, Pimpri-Chinchwad students' wing chief Yash Sane, and former corporators Rahul Bhosale and Pankaj Bhalekar have submitted their resignations to Ajit Pawar.
Ajit Gavahane resigned after his efforts to get a ticket for the Bhosari Assembly seat failed, sources told India Today. BJP MLA Mahesh Landge has been elected from Bhosari constituency for the last two terms. Pimpri-Chinchwad has been the NCP's stronghold for decades.
The NCP leaders' resignations come amid a buzz that some leaders of the Ajit Pawar camp may return to the Sharad Pawar camp. Earlier this month, Sharad Pawar claimed some MLAs from the breakaway NCP met his party's senior leader Jayant Patil.