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Gaikwad, a veteran from the state’s Dalit movement who switched to the NCP, was handpicked by party boss Sharad Pawar much to the surprise of city political circles in August 2006. Now Gaikwad’s supporters are protesting the shabby treatment he is being meted out by the Marathas within the party.
The internal bickerings came to the fore recently when Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale and other elected civic office-bearers belonging to the party kept away from rallies convened by the city chief to assess the party’s presence in each of the assembly segments.
The rally in the Kasba assembly segment was attended only by Bhavani Peth legislator Kamal Dhole-Patil and standing committee chairman Bapu Pathare. Besides the mayor, others who kept away were leader of house in PMC and party executive president Anil Bhosale, City Improvement Committee chairman Bapu Karne, and Gaikwad’s predecessor Anna Thorat. Adding fuel to the fire was the talk of differences cropping up between state NCP vice-president Vasant Wani and Gaikwad.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Gaikwad said: “A few of my own party men have launched a deliberate campaign to remove me from the post. But I will not relent to their pressure tactics.”
He emphasised that he was appointed by Pawar to head the party’s city unit. “I will give up the post only if the NCP chief wishes so,” Gaikwad added. Gaikwad said that his detractors were attempting to create an impression that groupism was on the rise under his leadership. “If at all there is groupism, it can be foiled at any stage.” On the reported differences with Wani, Gaikwad said there was no misunderstanding and he respected the senior party office-bearer.
Wani though minced no words on the issue. “I was disappointed by Gaikwad’s comment that no one should teach him how to handle party affairs,” he said. Wani said he will be reporting on the ongoing war of words within the party to their leader Ajit Pawar, who is in charge of city affairs. “I will not attend any party rally in the city till the misunderstandings are cleared,” he added.
Meanwhile, the NCP city women’s wing chief Shashikala Kumbhar has come out in support of Gaikwad. “Any effort to remove Gaikwad will impact the morale of the party activists and take away the dalit vote bank that played a crucial role during the civic polls. The NCP could manage to route the Congress after its 15 year rule only because of Dalit and minority votes.” Senior partymen and former mayor Datta Ekbote said the civic office-bearers of the party were doing more harm than benefit the party. “They are not following the democratic norms. This infighting and pressurisng of corporators, who are not allowed to speak their choice, will adversely affect the party,” he added.
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