Vidarbha leg of NCP yatra starts from Gadchiroli

NAGPUR: The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party has seen a major turmoil in recent weeks with some very senior and loyal leaders deserting the party to join the ruling BJP or the Shiv Sena. Unfazed by the setback, the party is going ahead with its yatra plan.
On Monday, the ‘Shivswarajya’ yatra being coordinated by recent entrant and MP Amol Kolhe began its Vidarbha leg.State NCP president Jayant Patil along with Amol Mitkari and several others reached Nagpur and left for Gadchiroli early morning to cover the tribal district.
The Vidarbha part will conclude in the city on Wednesday with a gathering of supporters to be addressed by the leaders. The local leaders, however, are yet to finalize the venue and may fix between Suresh Bhat hall or the Mahakalkar auditorium.
On Monday, the yatra covered Gadchiroli, Aheri and Ballarshah. On Tuesday, it will move across Bhandara and Gondia districts with meetings at Sadak Arjuni, Tiroda, Mohadi and Bhandara. On Wednesday, the yatra will reach Nagpur after touring Hinganghat and Katol.
Party stalwart and former deputy CM Ajit Pawar is keeping a low profile probably because of the legal cases relating to the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank irregularities and irrigation scam. Several stalwarts of the party have left and defected to the ruling parties sensing that NCP’s political fortunes are on the decline. Meanwhile, the Congress, which is also ailing, has decided to share equal number of seats with NCP in the ‘grand alliance’ with smaller parties. Both the NCP and Congress are to leave 35 seats each for the allies and the remaining 218 are to be shared equally among the Congress and NCP.