After facing the embarrassing defeat in the recently held Lok Sabha election, Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar told party workers not to be complacent but work hard for its revival. Pawar has exhorted the cadre to strive hard to increase NCP's presence in urban areas. He has also ruled out NCP's merger with the Congress. Pawar has urged NCP workers to extensively use social media -- Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to reach out to the voters.
Pawar clearly hinted that NCP is down but certainly not out as it is prepared to slog for its survival against BJP which with its ally Shiv Sena has won 41 Lok Sabha seats and scored lead in 225 of the total 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra. NCP chief's call comes at a time when several leaders have joined BJP or Sena ahead of assembly election slated for September-October this year.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, NCP's share has fallen to 15.5% from 16.12% in 2014. In 2009, the vote percentage of the party was 19.28%. NCP had won 41 seats in the state assembly elections held in October 2014.
Veteran NCP leader and former deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal backed Pawar's views as the state has recorded around 50% urbanisation. ''NCP has an insignificant presence in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and other tier II and III cities. The party will have to aggressively take up issues like water and power shortages, traffic jams, growing unemployment along with the problems faced by rural voters,'' Bhujbal said. He added that NCP will have to further strengthen its cadre at the ground level for its revival and survival.
State party chief and former finance minister Jayant Patil said new faces and youths will be fielded in the coming assembly election replacing the old timers in some constituencies. However, observers say this is not enough for NCP to improve its poll performance. ''PM Modi had dubbed NCP as Naturally Corrupt Party following the alleged involvement of its leaders in various scams. The party will have to undergo a drastic surgery to change its image,'' he added.