Political Chatter Grows As Hadapsar MLA Tupe Appears With Sharad Pawar

Speculations about Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislators switching allegiance to the Sharad Pawar-led faction gained momentum on Sunday when the party's Hadapsar MLA Chetan Tupe appeared alongside Pawar and other Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders at a program in Pune.

Addressing the media at the event, Tupe clarified it was a non-political gathering. "The program was organized by the Satara Zilla Mitra Mandal, and I was invited to attend," he explained. MVA leaders present included former NCP (SP) MP Shrinivas Patil, former Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Mahadeo Babar, former Congress MLA Balasaheb Shivarkar, and NCP (SP) city president Prashant Jagtap.

Rumors of NCP MLAs defecting surfaced after the Ajit Pawar-led faction faced a significant defeat in the Lok Sabha elections. In contrast, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) performed well, winning eight out of the ten seats they contested. However, the NCP lost three of the four seats it contested, including the Pawar family stronghold Baramati, where Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra lost to Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule.

These speculations intensified after NCP (SP) leaders Jayant Patil and Rohit Pawar revealed that several NCP MLAs were in contact with them. Additionally, NCP's Junnar MLA Atul Benke met Pawar about a week ago at NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe's residence. Benke claimed the meeting was for development-related discussions, but it added to the rumors.

Further fueling the speculations, NCP MLA Narhari Zirwal's son Gokul attended the NCP (SP)'s convention in Nashik last week, where he expressed his readiness to contest against his own father. Zirwal reportedly helped Bhaskar Bhagare, NCP (SP)'s candidate from the Dindori Lok Sabha seat, defeat union minister of state Dr. Bharati Pawar. Zirwal was also seen at one of Bhagare's campaign meetings, although he claimed he was invited by villagers to attend prayers at the Hanuman temple.

On Sunday, Zirwal skipped the party meeting convened by NCP state president Sunil Tatkare in Nashik. When asked about Zirwal's absence, Tatkare said, "Zirwal was not expected to attend today's meeting as he is holding a meeting in his own constituency." He also emphasized that all the MLAs were with the party, stating, "During the legislative council elections too, there were similar allegations, but all our votes were intact, and both our candidates were elected."

On Saturday, former NCP MLC Babajani Durrani announced his return to NCP (SP), stating that the NCP does not ideologically align with the BJP and Shiv Sena, and he would support the senior Pawar in the future.

Additionally, former MP and union minister Suryakanta Patil rejoined the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) last month. Before the Lok Sabha polls, NCP's Parner MLA Nilesh Lanke left the party and successfully contested the election as an NCP (SP) candidate from Ahmednagar.