Cong sees silver lining in NCP coup, eyes LoP post

The NCP coup has provided an opportunity to Congress to strengthen its base in Maharashtra. With many MLAs joining the Ajit Pawar camp, the Congress hopes to be the single largest party in the opposition and thereby bag the LoP post, writes ETV Bharat's Amit Agnihotri.

New Delhi:The Congress on Monday termed the coup in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) unfortunate but the crisis has provided an opportunity to the grand old party to restrengthen its base in Maharashtra.

“The coup that has hit the NCP is unfortunate but the latest crisis has provided a window to the Congress to regain ground in the state,” AICC secretary in charge Ashish Dua told ETV Bharat.

According to Congress insiders, post NCP split, several of the MLAs are likely to go with rebel Ajit Pawar, leaving the grand old party as the single largest party in the opposition. Thus, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) post in the Assembly, which was earlier held by Ajit Pawar, should automatically come to the Congress, said party sources.

The NCP has 53 MLAs and the Congress 44. The LoP post had gone to the NCP as it was the single largest party in the opposition after the Shiv Sena split last year. Notably, the NCP appointed Jitendra Awhad as the new LoP after incumbent Ajit Pawar took oath as deputy chief minister on Sunday.

“The political situation in the state is fast changing. A meeting of party MLAs will take place on July 4 in Mumbai to discuss the existing scenario,” said Dua. According to Congress insiders, it is still not clear how many MLAs are backing NCP head Sharad Pawar and how many of them moved to the camp of Ajit Pawar.

“Assuming that even if half of the NCP MLAs go with Ajit Pawar, Congress would become the single largest opposition party. In such a case, deciding as to who will be the LoP might be tricky and would need to be handled carefully. All possible situations will be discussed at the meeting of the MLAs tomorrow and the high command could take a decision accordingly,” Dua, who is monitoring the Maharashtra situation said.

For the Congress strategists, the NCP crisis has shown that only the grand old party is able to give a tough fight to the BJP in the western state as both the MVA partners Shiv Sena and the NCP fell prey to the BJP’s machinations. “We certainly see an opportunity to regroup the party in Maharashtra now. Since Rahul Gandhi’s 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' passed through the state last year, the Congress workers have been boosted up. In fact, the Maharashtra leg was the best across the entire yatra route and the Shegaon rally in Buldhana was the biggest during the nationwide foot march,” Dua pointed out.

“If you see historically, the Congress is the most widely spreadout party across the western state and Maharashtra has been our stronghold. We have also been doing well during the local body polls over the past few years. In comparison, the Shiv Sena UBT and the NCP are strong only in some pockets of Maharashtra,” he said.

According to Dua, the Congress high command is committed to staying in the MVA but that should not stop the grand old party from expanding itself across the state. "We would fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as MVA but a stronger Congress would certainly be in a position to demand more seats out of the total 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state,” Dua added.