NCP banks on Pawar to counter Sonia’s rally

MUMBAI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s proposed rally on December 23 in Mumbai, it seems, is giving the NCP some anxious moments, which is looking up to Sharad Pawar for his wide mass appeal.

Keen to beat the Congress at its own game and venue, the NCP is planning to hold a public rally featuring Mr Pawar at the same Shivaji Park ground, where Ms Gandhi will kick off the Congress campaign for the BMC polls.

NCP general secretary Gurunath Kulkarni said the party wanted to hold the public rally before January 6. “NCP workers from Mumbai are demanding that Mr Pawar address a public meeting in Mumbai. We plan to hold it at the Shivaji Park. December 30 and January 6 are two dates being considered for the rally,” Mr Kulkarni said.

He claimed that packing the Shivaji Park to its capacity was not a big deal for the NCP. “Mr Pawar addressed a record gathering at Shivaji Park on June 10, 1999, after he had quit the Congress,” he recalled. Apparently, the possibility of a huge turnout for the Sonia rally is what is giving the NCP a complex in the ongoing game of political muscle-flexing. This, despite the two parties having agreed to strike an alliance for the BMC elections.

Mr Pawar is scheduled to be in Mumbai on December 23 as well. The NCP minority cell has organised a meeting at Shanmukhanand Hall in Matunga on Saturday morning. “This function has nothing to do with the Congress rally, it was planned a month back,” Mr Kulkarni said. Sources said the minority cell’s meeting is a much smaller event compared to the public rally to be addressed by Ms Gandhi. “We need to organise something on a much larger scale for the elections,” an NCP functionary said.