Date:19/10/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/10/19/stories/2004101907501100.htm

National

Festive atmosphere at NCP office

By Our Special Correspondent

MUMBAI, OCT. 18. If anyone had doubts about the real victor in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, he/she only needed to visit the headquarters of the Nationalist Congress Party here today.

One would be forgiven for mistaking it to be the venue for a wedding.

Three `shehnai' players dressed in gold coats sat on a truck displaying larger than life images of the NCP leader, Sharad Pawar, and the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi.

As they played their instruments, newly elected NCP MLAs trooped into the party office and were welcomed in traditional Maharashtrian style. Members of the women's wing, dressed in Maharashtrian nine-yard sarees, performed aarti and applied tilak on their foreheads.

Prominent leaders were welcomed with much cheer. They included the Home Minister, R.R. Patil, who won from Tasgaon in western Maharashtra, the Finance Minister, Jayant Patil, who won from Walva and Mr. Pawar's nephew, Ajit Pawar, who won from Baramati.

The former Deputy Chief Minister, Chhagan Bhujbal, who stood for the first time from Yeola in Nashik district and won by a big margin, was also cheered.

The decorated party office saw an endless stream of activists. Even the presence of dozens of gun-toting guards, who sat around while the MLAs were closeted in a meeting, did not detract from the festive atmosphere.

Unlike the low-key affair earlier in the day at the Congress office a short distance away, the NCP members were celebrating their victory in style.

As journalists and party activists waited for the meeting to conclude, there was a sudden rush of activity.

The controversial MLA from Ulhasnagar, "Pappu" Kalani, who won on the Republican Party of India (Athavale) ticket, walked in surrounded by security guards.

That he chose to come to the NCP office clearly indicated the side his party has chosen in the tussle between the two main alliance partners.

Party activists are confident that the Independent MLA, Hitendra Thakur from Vasai, will also choose the NCP.