Rumblings in NCP over two nominations in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: Discontent is brewing in the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for nominating new entrants for the Lok Sabha polls from Amravati and Raver constituencies. The NCP has nominated Navneet Kaur Rana, wife of Independent legislator Ravi Rana from the reserved Amravati constituency, and Independent legislator Manish Jain from Raver in Jalgaon district.
State NCP president Bhaskar Jadhav had to face an embarrassing situation at a party workers' rally in Amravati, when party general secretary Sanjay Khodke made it clear that he and his supporters would not campaign for the party nominee.In Raver, local NCP leaders took strong exception to Jain's candidature.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik justified Navneet's nomination. "The decision was not taken in a hurry. We heard views of local leaders and nominated her as she has elective merit,'' Malik said.
But Khodke said Kaur was nominated without consulting local activists. "Rana's wife was nominated even though he defeated an official candidate in the last assembly polls. We will not work for her and will remain neutral,'' Khodke said.
Khodke said the party should not have nominated her when doubts were expressed over a caste certificate submitted by her. "It will be embarrassing for the NCP if the competent authority accepts the objection to her certificate,'' he said.
Khodke has been associated with the NCP since its inception in 1999 and is known for research on the political system and caste-based politics. He has been recognized as a ready-reckoner for the party.
In Raver, both party leaders felt the NCP should have given up the seat for the Congress, or should have fielded a candidate from the Leva Patil community. "If we look at the constituency's history, members of that community were always elected, barring once,'' a senior Congress leader said.
Malik justified Jain's nomination, saying Raver was a mixed constituency and it should not be difficult for the NCP to wrest the seat from the BJP. "The Leva Patils are around four lakh, while other communities comprise 14 lakh,'' he said.