'Amit Shah had promised Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel that even if there were only one third of MLAs with them, they would be given the party symbol.'

'He promised them that the Election Commission would not take a decision against them and that they would get the party name and symbol.'

For Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, the 2024 election was one of the toughest battles the NCP fought since it was founded in 1999.

His nephew Ajit Pawar deserted him, and he lost many of his MLAs, MPs, leaders and the party symbol itself.

But the verdict of people of Maharashtra was that they were with him, by giving the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) 8 Lok Sabha seats while the Ajit Pawar NCP faction won only one seat.

"After the results, Ajit Pawar's company is completely shattered. The MLAs have started coming back to us in small groups. They are sending feelers to Sharad Pawar apologising for what they did," P C Chacko, the new working president of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier in the first of a two-part interview.

What do you feel after the NCP went through one of the most turbulent periods since it was formed?

I will have to touch upon two things: Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra politics, and Sharad Pawar and national politics.

Pawar had the biggest shock of his political life when his own people betrayed him.

By his own people, I mean his relatives and the people who were nurtured by him.

Just for the sake of power, those people shifted to the BJP.

On several occasions, I was instrumental in blocking it from happening. Every time I hear such news, I used to rush to Mumbai.

I used to plead with Pawar that his individuality and personality was more important, and he should not take any decision in haste.

We spoke in May 2023 when Ajit Pawar and some other MLAs wanted to support the BJP and Pawar resigned.
He agreed to continue as the party president after you spoke to him...

Yes. Then, Ajit Pawar and company felt that I spoiled their plan as both Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel planned to take Sharad Pawar also to the other side.

After their plan failed, they were waiting for another opportunity. They also knew that if I was in the picture, their plan will not work.

All of a sudden, 10 MLAs shifted side after talking to Amit Shah, and Ajit Pawar took over as the deputy CM. Praful (Patel) was the leader of the gang of 10.

The 10 became 15 and then 20, and almost the entire party save 11 crossed over to that side.

Pawar told me then that when somebody offered them something, there was a strong temptation to accept the offer. He said, let all of them go.

I was with Pawar all the time.

Was he upset?

Yes, he was very upset, but he didn't show his feelings.

Supriya (Sule, Sharad Pawar's only child) told me then that it would be a tough time for all of us. She said Ajit Pawar going away was a problem for her too.

Ajit Pawar was in charge of the entire Baramati, and he was doing all the development work even though Baramati was the creation of Sharad Pawar.

Was it a big blow for Sharad Pawar when the Ajit Pawar faction was declared as the real NCP when the party was founded by him?

That came from the Election Commission. Amit Shah had promised Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel that even if there were only one third of MLAs with them, they would be given the party symbol.

He promised them that the Election Commission would not take a decision against them and that they would get the party name and symbol.

I was with him one day when Sharad Pawar himself met the Election Commission. In spite of all our arguments, they gave the entire party to the Ajit Pawar faction.

In February 2024, the Election Commission ruled that Ajit Pawar's faction was the real NCP.

Was it not shocking that the Election Commission behaved in such a manner in a democracy?

It is shocking in a democracy. I do not want to mince words; this Election Commission was completely partial. The decision they took was not fair.

Normally when a party splits, both the parties would be asked to take a new symbol. That's the common practice. There was no reason to give the party symbol to them.

Abhishek Singhvi told the Election Commission that the man standing before them was the founder of the NCP, and that he was elected at the Talkatora stadium by more than a thousand people.

'How can a handful of people on the other side say that they are the real NCP?', he asked the EC.

But the Election Commission took a decision in a partial manner.

You have been in politics for more than five decades. Have you seen Election Commissions acting like this before?

Never. Even during Indira Gandhi's time, the Election Commission was impartial.

During T N Seshan's time, everybody was afraid of the Election Commission. They exercised their power fearlessly on both the ruling party and the opposition.

But these people were not even responding to many of the queries raised by the Opposition.

Anyway, Pawar did not have the symbol or the name with him to fight the election. We had to fight the election on a new symbol.

Baramati was the most watched contest...

Yes, Supriya was fighting against Ajit Pawar's wife there. But Supriya was confident that we would win as she was doing a lot of good work there.

Finally, people spoke.

Not just Supriya won in Baramati, we got 8 seats in Parliament. Last time we had only 4!

After the results, Ajit Pawar's company is completely shattered. The MLAs have started coming back to us in small groups.

They are sending feelers to Sharad Pawar apologising for what they did.

Though the Ajit Pawar faction was declared as the real NCP, the results said a different story...

Exactly. The formal decision says Ajit Pawar is the NCP, but above the Election Commission, above the Supreme Court, the people of Maharashtra decided that Sharad Pawar is the real NCP.

That's why he got 8 seats and the other faction got only 1.

Now, we are picking up.

• Part II of the Interview: 'Nitish Could Come Back To INDIA'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com