Pawar sets his power play in motion

When it comes to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, nothing happens or is even said without a reason. On April 19, his daughter and NCP MP Supriya Sule raised many an eyebrow in political circles while hinting that there would be two political ‘blasts’ – one in Maharashtra and the other in Delhi – “in the next fifteen days”.

And on Tuesday, the first ‘blast’ went off creating waves across the nation and in Maharashtra in particular where the NCP is a formidable force with more than 50 MLAs in the Assembly. Pawar announced his resignation from the post of NCP chief – which he had held for the past 24 years – in dramatic fashion with tearful leaders of the party huddled around him. He also announced the formation of a panel to decide on the next NCP president.

There were some who assumed that he had decided to call it a day after battling cancer for many years; others saw it as a shrewd move to dissociate himself – at least in the public eye – from any move by his nephew Ajit Pawar and his loyalists to firm up an alliance with the ruling Shinde Sena-BJP coalition in Maharashtra. At present, the NCP is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi along with the Uddhav Sena and the Congress. Ajit had made known his softness for the saffronists earlier, even striking a pact with BJP strongman Devendra Fadnavis to form a government, which was, however, short-lived.

Now with the Supreme Court verdict on the disqualification of the Eknath Shinde faction MLAs pending, Maha politics is set for a churning with political alliances likely to be redrawn. And the NCP obviously would not like to be on the wrong side when this happens. Pawar also knows better than anyone else that the so-called opposition unity to take on the saffron juggernaut is still stuck over the leadership question. Which means that the BJP at least for now, is still at numero uno position as far as the parliamentary poll in 2024 is concerned.

There are many who foresee a cataclysmic change in national politics after the Karnataka Assembly poll results with surveys indicating that the Congress has the upper hand visà-vis the BJP. But the idea of a united opposition front is still in its infancy and leaders like Pawar would not like to be left in political wilderness once again if the BJP runs away with the honours in 2024.

The senior politician, who split away from the Congress in 1999 over reported moves to make Mrs Sonia Gandhi PM instead of him or Dr Manmohan Singh, has already made it amply clear that he has no antipathy for the BJP; or even for Gautam Adani with whom he was clicked engaged in discussions.

This happened at a time when the entire opposition was up in arms against the business top gun and the PM for their reported proximity. And when the Aam Admi Party (AAP) raised a hue and cry over the qualifications of the PM, Pawar felt it was no issue, thus dampening the firepower of the opposition.

Feverish attempts are on to persuade Pawar senior to withdraw his resignation and he has even agreed to give it a second thought. Meanwhile, the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra of which the NCP is the largest component, is on shaky ground much to the glee of the Eknath Shinde-led state government.

One can’t help wondering what the second ‘blast’ Ms Sule had hinted at, would be? The first has happened in Maharashtra and the second is slated to happen in Delhi, according to her. Considering his dizzy rise to the heights and his stormy political journey, nothing can be ruled out when it’s Sharad Pawar, who is hogging the limelight.