Outfoxed, outgunned and outnumbered: How Sharad Pawar built and lost NCP

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

NCP after they were expelled from the Congress for challenging its then president Sonia Gandhi. Pawar had challenged Sonia's foreign origin. Today, his nephew Ajit Pawar has challenged Sharad Pawar's age, asking him,«You are 83.

Aren't you going to stop?» The split in the NCP played out as numbers game today when the uncle and the nephew put up power shows at different venues in Mumbai. Ajit has an edge in numbers. Reportedly, 30 to 35 MLAs were present at Ajit's party meeting while 14 MLAs turned up for Sharad Pawar's meeting.

The uncle has clearly been outnumbered by the nephew, days after he was outfoxed when Ajit went to Raj Bhawan along with seven MLAs and joined the Shinde-Fadnavis government by taking oath as the deputy CM while his MLAs took oath as ministers. The NCP has 53 MLAs in the Maharashtra assembly. Ajit needs the backing of 36 MLAs to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.

In all likelihood, he will gather the numbers he needs.How Pawar built the NCP For Pawar, who has jumped parties to attain power, the history is repeating. His nephew has played his own signature move. In fact, the NCP's very beginning was marked by an abrupt turnaround.

Pawar had disputed Sonia Gandhi's right to lead the country on the ground that she was a foreigner by birth. She had become the Congress president after his husband Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, upsetting the senior leaders who saw her as an interloper. Since she was the party president, she would be the prime-ministerial candidate of the party too.

That's what Pawar had challenged. Sonia expelled him and his allies Sangma and Anwar from the Congress, and they formed a new party, the NCP. Pawar was not expelled from the party due to any issue but a big