Sharad Pawar praises RSS commitment to its ideology, urges NCP to build similar ideals

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, during a meeting with party workers in South Mumbai on Thursday, commended the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for its members' unwavering dedication to the organization's ideology.

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar lauded the RSS for its unwavering dedication to its ideology and urged his own party to build a cadre base equally committed to the progressive ideals of Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Dr BR Ambedkar, and political stalwart Yeshwantrao Chavan.

Speaking to party workers at a meeting in south Mumbai on Thursday, the former Union minister highlighted the RSS's strong cadre system, which demonstrates steadfast loyalty to the Hindutva organization’s ideology, remaining resolute and unyielding in its commitment.

“We, too, should have such a cadre base which is committed to the ideology of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, BR Ambedkar and Yashwantrao Chavan,” Pawar said.

Reflecting on the Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s heavy defeat in the November assembly elections in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar remarked, "We became complacent after the Lok Sabha election success, while the ruling alliance (BJP-led Mahayuti) took immediate steps to contain its reverses in the parliamentary polls.”

The Sharad Pawar-led party had performed well in the April-May Lok Sabha elections, winning eight of the 10 seats it contested. However, in the November assembly elections, the party managed to secure only 10 out of nearly 90 seats where it fielded candidates.

“We failed to communicate to the OBCs (a major vote bank) what we did for their uplift,” the former CM noted.

He emphasized the importance of social engineering to bridge the caste divide in Marathwada, the epicenter of the Maratha quota movement, particularly in light of recent incidents such as the death of a Dalit man in judicial custody in Parbhani district and the brutal murder of a village sarpanch in Beed district.

Both Parbhani and Beed are located in Marathwada, a region in central Maharashtra.

“Such a situation prevailed even during the Marathwada university renaming controversy, but I went to the university and interacted with all stakeholders," recalled Pawar, who was the Maharashtra CM at the time.

Pawar stressed that similar efforts for engaging with the people and implementing a social engineering strategy were necessary at this juncture.

He announced that his party would allocate 50 percent of the tickets to new faces for the upcoming local body elections in the state.

Pawar also suggested that the party’s organization would undergo a restructuring to strengthen its foundation.

The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) remains a key member of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).