Even as the buzz about a secret meeting between NCP President Sharad Pawar and his nephew, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in Pune, was slowly fizzling out, there were reports of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray discussing with his colleagues and party members the prospects of a seat-sharing alliance with the BJP. There was also talk of how seat-sharing between Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the BJP was likely to shape up in the upcoming election season. The overall situation now suggests that the BJP has too many alliance partners and is perhaps facing the problem of plenty!
About 15 months ago, when Eknath Shinde decided to break away from Udhhav’s Shiv Sena, it was obvious that his effort was completely supported by the BJP, which has the largest number of MLAs in the present assembly. After a series of dramatic developments, the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ succeeded and Shinde was brought in as the CM and the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as the deputy CM, to form the government in Maharashtra. For the past six months, BJP ground surveys have suggested that having Shinde alone in the alliance may not suffice to face the 2024 general election in this key state. This prompted the BJP to encourage Ajit Pawar to split from NCP chief Sharad Pawar and form his own group, to join the Shinde-led government as the BJP’s partner.
Currently, the buzz is about what terms were discussed between Ajit Pawar and the BJP. Sources close to the Pawars suggest that Ajit Pawar was told by the BJP that he would be made the CM after the monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly. Others say the terms discussed included other members of the Pawar family also joining Ajit Pawar.
Obviously, Shinde is uncomfortable with all these reports. At Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Pune event August 1, there were pictures showing how Modi greeted Ajit Pawar at the airport and other locations but those same visuals also showed how uncomfortable Shinde was with the situation. The majority of the MLAs who left Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena last year, had clearly said on camera that they were unhappy with Ajit Pawar’s style of functioning as finance minister in the MVA government and now, the very same Ajit Pawar was back in their midst in the same role.
Recent political developments suggest that there is ongoing rivalry between the Shinde group, the BJP and alliance partners in the government. Even at Ajit Pawar’s swearing-in a month ago, Shinde’s body language suggested unease. Last week, Shinde skipped the inauguration of a Rs850 crore highway interchange project, which he himself had initiated in coordination with the Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Speculation was rife about Shinde being unwilling to share the stage with Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis, in view of recent media reports about a cold war between Shinde and Ajit Pawar. In the previous week, Ajit Pawar had reportedly held certain meetings of the finance department and made some big decisions without consulting Shinde. On the face of it, both Pawar and Shinde have denied any rift. However, events unfolding suggest that not all is well between the two.
It is not exactly clear how many MLAs of Sharad Pawar’s NCP are going to be with Ajit Pawar. The situation seems fluid as every MLA must be debating their future course of action. A lot depends on the decision of the election commission about claims to the party name by both sides. Meanwhile, on the ground, Ajit Pawar continues to use his uncle’s face on all publicity material posters, hoardings and advertisements. In their first rally at Bandra, Mumbai, Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel sharply criticised Sharad Pawar but in the past two weeks, both have struck a mellower note, repeatedly saying that the older Pawar remained a source of inspiration and guidance for them. This picture is confusing the party cadre.
While all these developments were underway, the (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray told the media on Monday that his party had received a basic proposal to ally with the BJP and he was going to discuss it with his party colleagues. How things will shape up between them is anybody’s guess. How the BJP plans to accommodate its own MLAs, Shinde’s MLAs, Ajit Pawar’s MLAs and perhaps, Raj Thackeray’s aspirants in any seat-sharing formula, is up in the air. Clearly, it has visited the alliance buffet table more times than is healthy for its wellbeing.
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