Congress suffers major setback as 28 Malegaon corporators cross over to NCP

In a jolt to the Congress, 28 of its corporators in Malegaon of Maharashtra’s Nashik district joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday.

Announcing the crossover, NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said the corporators included the Tahira Shaikh, the Malegaon mayor, who joined the party in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and state NCP president Jayant Patil.

The Congress, however, said 27 of the 28 party members in the Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC) have joined the NCP.

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Both the NCP and the Congress are allies in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Agadhi (MVA) government in the state. The NCP already has 20 corporators in the 84-member civic body. The Shiv Sena has 13 members in the MMC, the BJP nine, the AIMIM seven, the JD(S) six and one Independent.

Both Patil and Pawar said Malegaon will have an NCP MLA in the next assembly elections and the party will work for development of the city.

“We were planning to hold a huge rally for induction of the corporators but it could not be held because of the COVID-19 pandemic as daily cases are being detected in big numbers. Ultimately it was decided to hold it at the party office. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has never discriminated against people over religion, caste creed or relations,” Ajit Pawar told reporters at the induction ceremony of the Malegaon corporators.
The move is a major jolt to the Congress which is already protesting for not being consulted on major governance decisions by the partner parties Shiv Sena and NCP.

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A state Congress officer-bearer said the party corporators switched sides on grounds that the civic body wasn’t getting funds for development projects in Malegaon. “Development funds are allotted by Ajit Pawar,” an NCP leader who is also the finance minister, he said.

Asked about the development, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said, “Even though the Congress and the NCP are allies in the MVA, this is politics. Some NCP corporators are joining us. I will not reveal much details now.”

He said if the NCP was engineering defections in the Congress ranks, “we, too, will decide what to do in the future.” “Those who quit on their own are not required to tell their grievances to the party leadership,” Patole said.