NCP turns 10, but the party is subdued

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The NCP marked its 10th anniversary on a sombre note on Wednesday with the party's central leadership suspending MP Padamsinh Patil from primary membership in the party.
The suspension is considered a blow to NCP president Sharad Pawar, who had described Patil as an "honourable leader''. Patil is a relative of Pawar. State home minister Jayant Patil, also of the NCP, had defended Patil on the floor of the state legislature after his arrest.
Pawar set up the regional party on June 10, 1999, when he was expelled from the Congress along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar for being opposed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi becoming the prime minister because she is of foreign origin.
NCP celebrations in Mumbai and Delhi were a low-key affair. In Delhi, no party MP attended the flag-hoisting at party headquarters. The hoisting was done by Suryakanta Patil, a former Union minister who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections.
In Mumbai, NCP city president Sachin Ahir held a conference at Shanmukhananda Hall, where deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal spoke. Party workers appeared confused about their future, because senior leaders have been seen inching closer to the Congress. For example, Sangma apologised to Sonia for opposing her earlier. This is being seen as a step towards a Congress-NCP merger, though party leaders officially deny such moves.
During the Shanmukhananda rally, news reached the venue that the entire Goa unit of the NCP was planning to leave the party.
Elsewhere in Mumbai, BJP Beed MP Gopinath Munde said the NCP had no choice but to merge with the Congress. "The NCP has lost its raison d'etre. Pawar will find it tough to keep his flock together, especially after the Congress win in the LS elections.'' The BJP leader claimed scores of NCP functionaries were keen to join the Congress. "I say this with a sense of responsibility,'' he said. But at Shanmukhananda, NCP state president R R Patil said. "There are many people waiting for the merger to happen. They can wait endlessly because the NCP will celebrate its centenary year too.''
While the NCP had earlier defiantly refused to take action against Padamsinh till he was proven guilty, it reversed its stand on Wednesday. Earlier, the NCP had said that Patil was a senior leader and should be treated as such.
According to party insiders, the statement made by Gandhian crusader Anna Hazare clinched the issue. Hazare told the media that people like Patil are "more dangerous than Pakistani terrorists''. Patel said the suspension was meant to set the "highest standards of probity in public life''.
Long, winding probe
June 3, '06 | Pawanraje Nimbalkar and Samad Kazi are murdered in Nimbalkar's car at Kalamboli. In the ensuing probe three people, including Tanaji Patil, are arrested
Oct 23, '08 | Bombay High Court orders that due to a `one-sided' probe, the Nimbalkar murder case should be handed over from the Navi Mumbai Crime Branch to the CBI0
Feb 27, '09 | Mumbai Crime Branch Unit 5 arrests Parasmal Jain and Dinesh Tiwari at Sahu Nagar, Dharavi, and charges them under the Arms Act for possessing three weapons
Mar-Apr | Pawanraje's wife Anandibai Nimbalkar tells HC there has been no movement in the Nimbalkar probe, despite the court ordering that the case be transferred to the CBI
Apr | CBI tells HC that the case was handed over to it by the state only in March
Apr 13 | Crime Branch Unit 2 takes custody of Jain and Tiwari in connection with an L T Marg robbery of Rs 4 lakh
Apr 27 | Crime Branch Unit 3 takes their custody in connection with a Byculla robbery of Rs 2 lakh
May 11 | Jain and Tiwari are returned to Unit 5 in connection with a Borivli robbery
Third week of May | Jain allegedly breaks down and confesses to officers of Unit 5 that he and others were involved in the murder of Nimbalkar
May 25 | Crime Branch hands over both the accused to the CBI and they are arrested in the Nimbalkar murder case
May 26 | The Crime Branch announces publicly that it has solved the murder and has handed over Jain and Tiwari to the CBI
May 31 | CBI arrests Osmanabad distillery owner Satish Mandade and Thane politician Mohan Shukla in the Nimbalkar murder case
June 6 | CBI arrests Padamsinh Patil in the Nimbalkar murder case
June 9 | CBI says the new group arrested has no connection to the Tanaji Patil group