Prithviraj Chavan Says 5–6 NCP (SP) MPs Under Pressure to Defect

Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday sparked fresh political speculation by claiming that five to six Lok Sabha MPs from Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) [NCP (SP)] are “restless” and under intense pressure from the Centre to switch sides.

Mr. Chavan’s remarks came close on the heels of a major setback to Uddhav Thackeray, whose six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs recently defected to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena in what has been dubbed “Operation Tiger”. The speculation has intensified further after NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe recently said he would “consider an offer” if approached by the ruling Mahayuti alliance, fuelling talk of a possible “Operation Tutari” — a reference to the party’s election symbol.

Claiming that the NCP (SP) could face a situation similar to Shiv Sena (UBT), Mr. Chavan said, “It is certainly worrying news that five to six of their MPs are restless. I don’t know what those MPs will finally do. But the Modi-Shah government is relentlessly pursuing them. They want no opposition to exist at all. What they did to Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena could also happen to Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party.”

Asked whether the MPs were likely to join the BJP or Mr. Shinde's Shiv Sena, the former Chief Minister said, “I don't know that. I am only saying that they are restless or in a mindset to leave. Whether they will actually leave, I don’t know. But I am hearing that those MPs are restless,” he said.

Mr. Chavan’s claim also came amid persistent speculation over a possible merger of the NCP (SP) with the Congress. However, senior Maharashtra Congress leaders have opposed the proposal and are understood to have conveyed their reservations to the party high command. A section of the State leadership fears that if the merger goes through, Mr. Pawar and his daughter, Supriya Sule, could emerge as the dominant figures in the party, diminishing the influence of the existing state Congress leadership.