Former MLA and MLC cites communal tensions and public pressure as key reasons for his departure from Ajit Pawar’s NCP
Team Clarion
MUMBAI – In a notable political shift, Babajani Durrani, president of the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) Parbhani district unit, has resigned from the party he joined last year. The two-time Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) and former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Pathri constituency was once a staunch Sharad Pawar loyalist but defected to Mahayuti in October 2023 due to local issues.
Durrani’s return to the Sharad Pawar-led NCP was marked by a significant event in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), where he rejoined the party in the presence of senior leaders Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Tope. This defection is viewed as a substantial blow to the Ajit Pawar faction, especially amid rumours of increasing dissatisfaction following the party’s debacle in the recent Lok Sabha election.
Addressing the media after the event, Durrani explained his decision: “I decided to return to Sharad Pawar Sahab’s NCP because it’s very difficult for a worker like me to work for a party which is in alliance with the BJP or Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena whose politics is centered around creating rifts along religious and caste lines. My workers, people in my constituency were pressing me to join the INDIA alliance.”
Durrani highlighted the pressure from “Muslim, Dalit communities” to align with a party that upholds the ideology of secularism.
“During the Lok Sabha elections, we saw that Muslims and Dalits did not vote for us only because we are in alliance with BJP, Shinde Sena. For the last ten years, despite India being a robust democracy, Muslims have been targeted. It’s difficult for me to work with people creating rifts between communities in such a situation.”
He also revealed that he had voiced his concerns about the party’s alliance with the BJP during a recent meeting with minority leaders of Ajit Pawar’s NCP. “I had publicly said that the party can not win the election by being in alliance with BJP,” Durrani asserted.
While acknowledging the secular ideology of the Ajit Pawar-led faction, Durrani expressed his dissatisfaction: “I agree that the party follows the secular ideology, but because it’s in alliance with BJP, people are very unhappy with it.”
Durrani, who enjoys considerable support in Parbhani district, served as an MLA from 2004 to 2009 and was appointed an MLC in 2012 and 2018. His return to the Sharad Pawar faction comes at a time when the seat recently vacated by the NCP (Ajit Pawar) was filled by Rajesh Vitekar, a fellow party leader from Parbhani.
