Ajit Pawar has given Praful Patel, one-time trusted lieutenant of Sharad Pawar, the charge of all 36 districts of Maharashtra to create a strong party network.
MUMBAI
After having separated from uncle Sharad Pawar’s shadow, nephew Ajit Pawar’s biggest challenge is to expand the party base in the state. In a meeting with the party’s senior leadership, Ajit Pawar entrusted Praful Patel, one-time trusted lieutenant of Sharad Pawar, as in-charge of all 36 districts of Maharashtra to create a strong party network mainly focusing on the youths across the state. Sunil Tatkare, a close confidant of Ajit Pawar, will work in tandem with Patel.
Ajit Pawar has said that he will himself look after Pune, Solapur, Sangli and Satara which is considered to be the NCP’s strong fortress. Senior party leader and a cabinet minister Chagan Bhujbal would look after Nashik and Mumbai.
Rajya Sabha member and national leader Praful Patel will take care of Bhandara, his home district, Gondia, Wardha, Amravati and Nagpur district. Another cabinet minister and one-time Sharad Pawar’s man Dilip Valse Patil will be in-charge of Akola, Sambhajinagar, Washim and Buldhana of Vidharbha and Marathwada region. Hasan Mushrif, cabinet minister, will look after his home district Kolhapur, Sindhdurg in Konkan and Ahmednagar.
Dhananjay Munde, a strong BJP leader and late Gopinath Munde’s nephew, will be in-charge of Parbhani, Beed, Nanded and Jalna in Marathwada.
Minister Sanjay Bansode will be incharge of Hingoli, Latur and Osmanabad. Aditi Tatkare, daughter of Sunil Tatkare, will look after Konkan region Raigad, Ratnagiri, Thane and Palghar. Anil Patil and Dharmrao Baba Atram will be incharge of north Maharashtra and eastern Vidharbha, Jalgaon, Dhule, Yavatmal Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, and Nandurbar.
Ajit Pawar is aware that he has a responsibility of steering the alliance to achieve the target of 42 seats set by the BJP leadership in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
The NDA alliance is facing a challenge from the NCP over taking credit for development work in Maharashtra’s different regions. Recently, in Shirdi, workers from the BJP and Ajit Pawar faction clashed over taking credit for development work in Shirdi.