On May 25 1999, Sharad Pawar, PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar decided to form a new political party -? the Nationalist Congress Party ? after raising a flag of revolt in the Congress over the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi. The NCP was born on June 10, 1999.
With Sonia Gandhi refusing the prime ministerial chair, the issue fizzled out and the NCP ended up as an ally of the Congress in the UPA.
Ten years later, the NCP?s fortunes have nosedived weeks after the party projected Pawar as its prime ministerial candidate. The NCP?s strength in the Lok Sabha has reduced from 11 to nine and newly-elected NCP MP Padamsinh Patil is in CBI custody for allegedly killing a Congress leader, Pawanraje Nimbalkar.
To make matters worse for the NCP, Sangma, whose daughter Agatha has been inducted in the Union cabinet, has apologised to Sonia for what he did a decade ago. The gesture triggered speculation of a possible merger of the NCP with the Congress.
In Maharashtra, where the NCP has the strongest presence and is propped up mainly by rich and influential Maratha leaders, there is unanimity among party leaders that a separate identity must be maintained. Assembly elections are due in four months and talk of a possible NCP-Congress merger is seen as a conspiracy by the Congress to demoralise the NCP?s rank and file.
Deputy chief minister RR Patil says, ?Whenever elections are to be conducted, the idea of merger is floated to create confusion. We are a full-fledged party, enjoying the support of the masses and there is no question of merging with the Congress. In fact, our party emerged as the single-largest party in the 2004 Assembly polls.?
Incidentally, the Congress has regained its position as the largest party in the state. In the 2004 Assembly polls, the NCP had emerged as the single-largest party with 71 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly, followed by the Congress with 69. However, after former Shiv Sena leader Narayan Rane joined the Congress and engineered defections, the Congress has become the largest party with 75 MLAs.
Over the past five years, elections to 22 municipal corporations across the state reveal that the Congress has secured 23% of votes, followed by the NCP (with 16%), the Shiv Sena (also with 16%) and the BJP (11%). In elections to 227 municipal councils, the Congress secured 23% of votes, followed by the NCP (19), the Sena (10), the BJP (8).
In elections to zilla parishads in 22 districts, the Congress won 584 out of the 1,961 seats. The NCP won 557, the Sena 301, the BJP 255. In 351 panchayat samitis, the Congress won 1,116 out of the 3,922 seats, while the NCP could win 1,084. The Sena could win 608 seats and the BJP 539.