Social engineering: NCP’s poll mantra post debacles

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will opt for major organisational changes very soon. Sources close to development have confirmed that the party will now try to build a new ‘social coalition’ ahead of the next general and Assembly elections.

Organisational changes have been long pending in the Maharashtra unit of the NCP. Its state president Sunil Tatkare is likely to be replaced by a Maratha face in order to win back the party’s core voters. Mr Tatkare is said to be preparing for the Lok Sabha election from the Raigad constituency where he lost by a very narrow margin in 2014.

Three names are doing the rounds for the post. Former Assembly speaker Dilip Walse-Patil, who is also an MLA from Ambegaon, Pune is believed to be the frontrunner for the post. Mr Walse-Patil is close to party supremo Sharad Pawar and maintains good relations with all factions within the party. Another contender is former finance minister Jayant Patil, an MLA from Sangli district who’s one of the prominent faces of the party. Shashikant Shinde, an MLA from Satara district, is also in the race for the post.

The NCP leadership is also said to be looking at its options to induct an other backward class (OBC) face for its women’s wing. OBC voters have a sizable presence in the state. Though there are no specific names as of now for the post, the contenders are likely to emerge from the party’s circle of prominent members.

The party is also mulling over bringing in a Dalit or Muslim face for its student wing. As state politics is witnessing the coming together of various Dalit and Muslim groups to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) narrative, a group in the NCP thinks it would be a good strategy to get a face from either community for its strong student body.