A poster at a recent Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) event in Maharashtra has triggered a political storm after the photographs of the late Ajit Pawar and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar were conspicuously missing from a party banner.
The incident unfolded during a felicitation ceremony for newly-elected Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti members in Raigad district, on March 27, attended by state NCP chief Sunil Tatkare.
The banner displayed only the images of Tatkare, his daughter and minister Aditi Tatkare, and her brother Aniket Tatkare, leaving out the late Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash in January this year.
Two MLAs of the Sharad Pawar-led faction quickly flagged the omission. Rohit Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s nephew and MLA from the NCP (SP) faction, alleged that Sunil Tatkare and Praful Patel were trying to wrest control of the NCP from his aunt Sunetra Pawar.
“When the landlord quietly transfers the 7/12 of the tenants’ land into his own name on the sly, this is a living example. The very thing we’ve been talking about repeatedly,” Rohit Pawar said in a post on X sharing an image of the controversial banner.
Responding to the allegations, Aditi Tatkare apologised for the mistake and said that such programmes are conducted by party workers.
“I express my regret. Whether it is Ajitdada or Sunetrakaki, their place in our hearts is unshakable. One should not judge the loyalty of all of us workers based on the photo on the banner,” she said in a post on X.
“Nevertheless, one good thing came out of this—we have now realized how the mechanism works that turns a single mistake at the local level in a local program into an issue. God only knows how much remorse those who relish chewing on this issue must feel in their hearts for the criticism they leveled against Dada when he was alive..! Otherwise, Kaki, as the head of the party family, certainly has the right to grab us by the ears for our mistake,” she added.
Other NCP leaders called the allegations “crocodile tears” and suggested Rohit Pawar focus on managing his own party.
– Ends
