Present tense over ‘future chief minister’

For the past fortnight, the main topic under discussion in the corridors of power has been if Ajit would replace Shinde

It is no secret that the power tussle between chief minister Eknath Shinde and his latest deputy Ajit Pawar, who is being described as future chief minister by the latter’s supporters, is becoming bitter.

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For the past fortnight, the main topic under discussion in the corridors of power has been if Ajit would replace Shinde. This intensified over the weekend as Shinde went to New Delhi to meet prime minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah amidst Ajit supporters hailing their leader as ‘future CM’ everywhere right from the banners (one was right in front of Varsha, the CM’s residence) to tweets to advertisements on Marathi new channels. This has led to an increase in bitterness between Ajit-led NCP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the ruling alliance. The Shinde camp is already unhappy over Ajit getting the finance portfolio. The distribution of guardian minister’s posts is turning out to be another contentious issue between the two factions. Then there was unease among Shinde’s MLAs as Ajit earmarked ₹2,500 crore in the supplementary demands for “essential work recommended by the elected representatives”. It was a feeling of deja vu in the Shinde camp as they felt Ajit, as finance minister, would allocate most of these funds to his NCP MLAs. After all, this was their major complaint against Ajit when they pulled down the MVA government.

On the other hand, senior NCP leaders who took oath with Ajit Pawar are also irked that they were not allotted prominent offices and bungalows at Malabar Hill as they are already occupied by existing ministers, most of them from Shinde’s Sena. Not to mention, three of them are with the chief minister himself.

Uneasy ceasefire

Ever since deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, his ministers and MLAs met NCP chief Sharad Pawar for two days in a row and requested him to work out a solution on the crisis in the party, there has been sort of ceasefire between the two factions of the NCP. Neither side is targeting the other publicly. Insiders from Ajit camp say all ministers and MLAs have been told not to criticise senior Pawar. The Pawar faction too has reciprocated by toning down its attack on Ajit and his MLAs. It is also not showing any hurry to pursue the disqualification petition against Ajit and eight ministers. However, there is no guarantee the ceasefire will last long. The Ajit camp is trying to win over most of the MLAs who have stayed loyal to the NCP chief and the latter is aware of this. Earlier this week, the party’s Nagaland unit including its seven MLAs pledged allegiance to Ajit. The senior Pawar, meanwhile, is likely to resume his rallies in the constituencies of prominent aides of Ajit after the current spell of the rains is over. If the latest developments are any indication, the war of the rival camps will resume soon.

Friends forever?

Maharashtra has a tradition of rival politicians being friends on a personal level. The friendship between Sharad Pawar and late Pramod Mahajan of the BJP was well known even though they criticised each other’s political policies in public. It is said that Mahajan was one of the few people Pawar had consulted before deciding to form NCP in 1999. Another well-known friendship was between former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh (Congress) and former deputy chief Gopinath Munde (BJP). They hailed from neighbouring districts of Marathwada region and remained friends till the end. These days, the much talked about friendship is that of current deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. As a BJP leader, Fadnavis led the attack on Ajit over irrigation scam but things changed after 2014 when he became chief minister. Compelled by the permutations and combinations in politics, the duo felt the need to bury their hatchet. Even after the failed experiment to form a government together in 2019, Fadnavis and Ajit remained friends. According to BJP insiders, Ajit was the preferred choice for Fadnavis when the party top brass began tapping the possibility of encouraging a split in the MVA last year. However, Shinde turned out to be faster than Ajit. Now Ajit is an ally of BJP and Fadnavis would like to deal with him more than Shinde. But then, both of them are ambitious and keen to become chief ministers. Will they remain friends forever?

Unhappy allies of BJP

Two smaller allies of BJP, Vinay Kore-led Jan Surajya Shakti and Bachchu Kadu-led Prahar Janshakti Party were counted among BJP’s partners as the party expanded the NDA. That, however, made two other allies unhappy since they did not figure in the list. Mahadev Jankar of Rashtriya Samaj Paksh did not hide his anger. He has now planned to contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Another was independent MLA Ravi Rana whose wife Navneet is MP from Amravati. The Ranas had taken on Uddhav Thackeray when he was chief minister and were even arrested after they attempted to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside Matoshree. Keeping everybody happy when one extends the family is clearly not an easy task.