Maharashtra: 'Sharad Pawar caused real damage to NCP to protect Supriya Sule,' claims Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal, Union minister and BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from the Mumbai North seat, said in a recent interview that Maharashtra politics strongman and NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar sabotaged his own party-- the erstwhile undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-- just to protect his daughter Supriya Sule. Explaining the chain of events in the erstwhile undivided NCP, Goyal further claimed that in 2014, Pawar directly supported the BJP and made overtures to do the same again in 2017.

He also mentioned that in 2019, it was Sharad Pawar who told his nephew Ajit Pawar, the now Deputy CM of Maharashtra, to get sworn in along with Devendra Fadnavis. Goyal further added that Pawar's attempts at protecting Sule caused frustration in his own party.

"Now this has all caused frustration in his own party just to protect his daughter, and that is the parivarvaad (dynastic politics) that Prime Minister Modi often talks about, just to protect his daughter or to make her the leader instead of the natural leader, Ajit Pawar, he's been really doing damage to his own party," Goyal said in an exclusive conversation with news agency ANI. 

Is Baramati a cliffhanger seat for the Pawars and Supriya Sule? 

The Union minister, who is fighting his maiden Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North seat, also replied to Sharad Pawar's "several regional parties could merge with the Congress in the near future" prediction.

He said that the NCP (SP) chief might be sensing defeat in Baramati as his remarks came soon after polling was over in the Pawar family stronghold. Voting in the Baramati Lok Sabha seat took place during the third phase of the ongoing general elections on May 7. 

He further said that with this remark by Sharad Pawar, it is crystal clear that the NCP in Maharashtra was in fact built by Ajit Pawar. He also went onto call Ajit Pawar the "natural leader of the Rashtravadi Congress" in the western state. 

NCP leaders of the time confused on supporting BJP: Piyush Goyal

Sharpening his target on Sharad Pawar, the Lok Sabha election debutant said the leadership and MLAs of the undivided NCP realised that they were being treated like pawns. He also said that the NCP leaders at the time were confused about the party high command's stand on supporting the BJP. 

NCP split in 2023

In July 2023, the NCP split into two factions when Ajit Pawar unexpectedly took oath as the Deputy CM of Maharashtra along with other NCP leaders including Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel. Since then, the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the party has been recognised as the official NCP by the Election Commission of India. 

While the Ajit Pawar-led faction got the party's clock symbol and name, the EC directed Sharad Pawar's camp to choose a new name for the upcoming 2024 general elections. Following this, the NCP faction led by Sharad Pawar came to be known as Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and it adopted the symbol of a man blowing tutari (a traditional trumpet).