Support to BJP hit our image: Senior NCP leaders

MUMBAI: Senior NCP functionaries Jitendra Avhad, Jayant Patil and Supriya Sule reportedly expressed reservations about the party supporting the BJP government in Maharashtra, at the party's two-day conclave in Alibaug.

During closed-door deliberations, Sule, daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, is believed to have raised the issue of how ‘public perception’ of NCP had taken a hit after it extended support to BJP, according to a party functionary who was present in the meeting.

"There is a perception among the people that NCP is compromising on its ideology for selfish reasons," Sule reportedly said in the meeting, according to the NCP functionary who was present. Jayant Patil echoed the same sentiment and spoke of how many party supporters were upset with the decision to support BJP. Former NCP working president, Jitendra Avhad, who enjoys support among minority communities in his constituency of Kalwa-Mumbra, also reportedly expressed reservations.

"Our ideology is different from that of BJP and if we are supporting it, then it will send out a wrong message to the people," Awhad reportedly told the deliberations. Aware of the fact that the decision to support BJP was taken by Sharad Pawar, all leaders, however, cloaked their statements by speaking about the 'negative image' of the decision on the people. Many NCP leaders fear that the decision to support BJP may rob the party of its 'secular sheen' during the next assembly polls.

"It would be hard to justify such a step by the party to the electorate because we declared the support to BJP even before it asked for it. It looks like we had decided that we would support BJP if it fell short of numbers," said an NCP leader. Sharad Pawar, meanwhile, continued to keep everyone in suspense on how long his party would support the BJP. On Tuesday, Pawar had asked cadres to remain 'prepared' for elections as they could occur any time and had said, "supporting the BJP government is not our responsibility". On Wednesday, however, he claimed that the media had wrongly interpreted his statements and said the party was not interested in pulling down governments.