NEW DELHI: “None of our MPs will split. Not a single one of our MLAs is going anywhere … ” Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar’s confident, if not bold, assertion that his party remains united and will not tread the same path as Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) or Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.This comes in response to a claim by NCP MLA Dharmarao Atram that five of the eight MPs of Sharad Pawar’s party are ready to cross over to the Nationalist Congress Party led by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar by December.Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, who is a Lok Sabha member from Baramati and one of the eight party MPs, rejected the NCP MLA’s claim and dared him to disclose the names. “Atram might be knowing more. I do not have any idea. We eight MPs were united yesterday, are united today and will remain united tomorrow. If Baba Atram has a list of five MPs, he should disclose the names,” Sule said.Sule also took a dig at Atram and quipped: “If he has a list of five MPs, why is he not poaching me? Why is he sparing me?”Sharad Pawar’s NCP-SP has at present 8 MPs and 10 MLAs – making the party vulnerable to poaching. Especially, at a time when at least two regional heavyweights, despite their tall claims of unity, have been dealt a crushing blow by the rebels. The Anti-defection Act, which provides parties a protective shield against defections, failed in both the cases as the rebels played the numbers game with perfection. The Anti-defection Act does not come into play when two-thirds of the legislators decide to change sides together. And that is what happened with both Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Trinamool Congress.In the case of Sharad Pawar’s party – a legally viable defection will require at least 6 MPs to quit together while in the case of MLAs the number would be 7.Sharad Pawar, who played a key role in the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi in 2019 to keep the BJP out of power in Maharashtra, has already lost control of his party and symbol to a revolt led by his nephew late Ajit Pawar in 2023. 40 out of the 55 NCP MLAs then sided with Ajit as a helpless Sharad Pawar could do little to save his party.There were moves in 2024 to reunite the two factions of the NCP with both Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar striking conciliatory tones. However, the proposed unification talks hit a dead end following Ajit Pawar’s sudden death in January 2026.While both Pawar and Sule have ruled out any rebellion, they would be wary given the recent developments in their state which saw Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena(UBT) suffer a second rebellion.Uddhav lost 6 party MPs to the Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena four years after the first rebellion by party MLAs that dethroned him from the post of chief minister.Sule reacted sharply to the defections and said: “I honestly wonder if democracy has ceased to exist in this country. Breaking homes and splitting parties has become the norm. These MPs were elected just two and a half years ago, and the next general elections are scheduled for 2029. What was the absolute hurry?”Sule reminded the ruling party of democratic traditions, pointing out that opposition parties like Congress have historically offered unanimous support to the government on crucial legislative matters — such as the passage of the GST bill — without requiring political coercion. “What is the need for such vandalism and destruction of parties? If there is no opposition left and everyone joins the government, who will speak for the common citizens?” she asked.The NCP, which is now led by Ajit Pawar’s wife Sunetra Pawar, has just one member in Lok Sabha at present. It may not be averse to increasing its tally for a greater say in the ruling NDA. Both Uddhav Thackeray and Mamata Banerjee had strongly denied reports of any rebellion even as their legislators were plotting a coup. In fact, the other big rebellion this season, which happened in AAP and was the first in the latest series, had also come as a surprise to Arvind Kejriwal and other senior leaders of the party. So, while Sharad Pawar’s confidence is welcome, he needs to be on guard.With NCP MLA Dharmarao Atram setting a December deadline, the fear of defections would be hanging like a sword of Damocles on Sharad Pawar and his daughter Supriya Sule.
