The BJP, which is the senior partner of the Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government, has conveyed to Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar that she will have to go to Delhi and meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah if she wants the Finance Ministry, which used to be run by her late husband Ajit Pawar, party sources said.
Sources said that the BJP stand, which was discussed at a meeting of the Sunetra Ajit Pawar-led NCP on Tuesday evening, has not gone down well with her partymen.
According to party sources, the condition put forward by the BJP has angered party leaders who consider securing the Finance Ministry their “right”, since the late Ajit Pawar headed the Finance Ministry, which is now with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis himself.
Consequently, the BJP and Fadnavis were criticised at the party meeting on Tuesday evening at the ‘Devgiri’ bungalow and the BJP’s stand was seen as a “betrayal”.
Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar herself expressed her regret about the stand taken by the BJP regarding the Finance Ministry in strong words at the internal meeting of her party.
Sources said that Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar herself had spoken in detail to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis regarding the Finance Ministry.
However, Sunetra Pawar expressed her regret at her party meeting, saying that she has not received any positive response from Fadnavis on this issue.
At the same internal party meeting, party leader and Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, “There is no certainty about what the BJP will do in the 2029 elections. Therefore, we must prepare independently to contest all 288 seats in the state. If constituencies increase in future, we should plan for that from now on itself.”
Chhagan Bhujbal also raised serious objections to the Special In-depth Revision (SIR) process of the electoral roll currently underway in Maharashtra, saying, “SIR being implemented at present is in the interest of only a particular party (the BJP). A plan has been hatched to systematically reduce the traditional votes we get through this mechanism. Therefore, we must take timely countermeasures against this.”
The meeting also had its moment of controversy when Deputy CM Sunetra Pawar’s elder son, Parth Pawar, walked out as soon as party leader Sunil Tatkare began speaking.
It may be recalled that a few days ago, Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel met the founder of the undivided NCP, Sharad Pawar, and complained that Parth Pawar was treating them with disrespect.
At Tuesday evening’s party meeting, Sunil Tatkare expressed his displeasure about the criticism levelled against him and Praful Patel.
While Sunil Tatkare raised the issue, party leader and Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal tried to stop him, but Tatkare insisted that he would speak for the sake of clarity.
Sources informed that Tatkare expressed his anger that, though he and Praful Patel played an important role in handing over the NCP party to Sunetra Pawar as well as keeping the party united after the death of the late Ajit Pawar, not a single party leader came forward to defend both of them when they were criticised.
Tatkare raised several serious questions before the party leadership and said, “When the discussion of the party merger started, even then, we both faced criticism. But no one else presented our side or came forward to defend us. Why should only Praful Patel and I be the target of criticism? Will the senior leadership take any official stand on this or not?”
Sources said that senior party leader Praful Patel chose to remain absent from the party’s important internal meeting despite being present in Mumbai.
Significantly, there has been an internal dispute between Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and the main party leadership in the past few days.