Mumbai, Oct 16 (IANS): Maharashtra NCP chief Sunil Tatkare on Wednesday warned that the party will not tolerate utterances or anti-party activities by party leaders against the NCP and the MahaYuti amid the ongoing Assembly election process and they will face strong disciplinary action.

The trigger for Tatkare’s warning was a statement made by the party legislator from the Maharashtra Legislative Council Satish Chavan after he blamed the MahaYuti government for not finding a way out to the reservations of the Maratha, OBC, Dhangar, tribals and Muslim communities and it has failed to handle the protests by pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil.

Chavan in a leaflet claimed that as the government has not looked at the issues pertaining to the Maratha community many Maratha youth are committing suicides in the state.

“Such a statement from the party's senior legislator is unacceptable especially when NCP is a key ally in MahaYuti. I will speak to the party's national president (Ajit Pawar) to initiate disciplinary action against Chavan. One thing is clear the party will not tolerate statements against NCP or MahaYuti at a time when the Assembly election process is underway. It will also not tolerate anti-party activities,” said Tatkare.

He hinted that the action would be taken against Chavan at the earliest.

To a question on Pune city chief Deepak Mankar’s move to publicly express displeasure over not considering his nomination to the state council from the Governor’s quota, Tatkare said: “I will personally speak to him. One thing is clear, one who works for the party expects his or her elevation as the legislator. There is nothing wrong with it. However, statements made by Mankar and Chavan are completely different. Chavan’s statement is clearly against the MahaYuti which is not acceptable.”

Tatkare said that the MahaYuti government has launched a slew of welfare and development schemes which have received an overwhelming response from various sections and they have been a grand success.

“MahaYuti is approaching voters on the government’s work and is hopeful to get a huge mandate to form the government after the assembly election,” he said.

When asked about the party legislator and former minister Rajendra Shingane quitting NCP to join the Sharad Pawar faction, Tatkare said that during the MahaYuti government, substantial funds were allocated in his constituency.

“Besides, the Deputy Chief Minister and finance minister Ajit Pawar helped to organise Rs 300 crore for the Buldhana district cooperative bank which was in financial difficulty as per Shingane’s request.”

However, Tatkare said, “After we have spoken to Shingane who has told us that he is not leaving the party.”

On the killing of party leader and former minister Baba Siddique, Tatkare said that the party has yet to recover from a major loss.

“After Baba Siddique had joined the party, he has been working hard to increase its presence in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra. He could have been one of those who would have been nominated to the state council. As far as the investigation into his death is concerned, the Mumbai Police have formed a 14-member unit and the probe is currently underway. So far four accused are arrested and the police are in the midst of finding the mastermind behind his killing,” he added.