Pawar, book and resignation

NCP chief Sharad Pawar announced his resignation at a book launch event, catching party leaders off-guard. He cited plans to focus on education, agriculture, cooperation, sports and culture. Senior leaders tried to counter the move by proposing Pawar's daughter as national president and his nephew for the state, but pressure from party workers saw Pawar return to leadership. Pawar is known for his political maneuvers, and his rivals have often been left guessing. Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said he will write a book to reveal the truth behind the government formation in 2019.

A harmless book release function held at Y B Chavan Center in Nariman Point, earlier this week, led to one of the most dramatic political developments in recent times and it was keenly followed by politicians as well as others in the country.

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The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar kept his plans under wraps as the function to release an updated edition of his Marathi autobiography, “Lok Maze Sangati” (People are my companions), was organised on May 2 at the auditorium of an institution built by him. The speech in which he announced his resignation was printed beforehand, but it was done by Pawar privately — through one of his grandchildren — to maintain secrecy, say insiders.

Key leaders of the party, the legislators and the district unit chiefs were invited for the function but none of them anticipated what they witnessed towards the end of it. Clearly, none of the senior leaders of the party were aware. According to the insiders, only Pawar’s family members — wife Pratibha, daughter Supriya, son-in-law Sadanand Sule, their children and nephew Ajit — knew that he would be announcing his resignation.

Senior leaders, who have been putting pressure on Pawar to go with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and who had the support of a sizeable number of the party MLAs, were caught off-guard as the octogenarian announced that he was quitting as the party president and would now devote more time to other subjects such as education, agriculture, cooperation, sports and culture.

Knowing that he already runs a number of institutions that are associated with these sectors, it was clear that Pawar was hinting at something else. By the time they realised what had happened, the party was already in turmoil and the seniors had no option but to follow the script of Saheb.

There were efforts to counter the move by putting forth a solution: Supriya Sule to be the national president while Ajit would handle the state, which in effect would mean keeping the door open for friendship with the BJP.

However, the pressure built by the party workers and the leaders loyal to Pawar ensured that the founder of the NCP was back at its helm. Many in the party think the issue is not over yet and following the Supreme Court verdict on the split in Shiv Sena — which is expected in the next few days — and in the run-up to the general elections in the summer of 2024, lot of things could happen in state politics and in the party.

However, for now, Pawar has outsmarted those in the party who wanted to corner him and their friends in the ruling parties. For years, his political moves have been an intriguing and puzzling subject for his rivals, political analysts and even his colleagues.

In the media and the political circles, often a Marathi phrase, “Katraj cha ghat dakavne” (getting them in Katraj pass) is used in connection with him. It refers to Katraj pass near Pune and it means scoring over someone by misleading the person.

What happened on May 2 was probably another example of this. In his book, Pawar has acknowledged that he has the skill to keep the opponents guessing and score over them. “You can be ahead of your opponents even if you are weaker than them, if they are struggling to figure out what your move is. By the time they realise, you have already scored over them,” Pawar writes in his book. Has he scored over his opponents? We will have to wait and see what unfolds in the state in the next few weeks.

Now, a book by Fadnavis?

Reacting to Pawar’s resignation and his book release, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who had once formed a short-lived government with Ajit, said it was a personal matter of the NCP chief and an internal matter of the party. He, however, reacted to Pawar’s claim in the book that he was not aware of the attempts to form Fadnavis-Ajit government in November 2019 and came to know about it only when they reached Raj Bhavan.

“I will also write a book at an appropriate time. I will write about what the truth was and what I know,” Fadnavis said. Let’s hope Fadnavis writes his book soon and reveals things that are not in the public domain.

Raut versus Rane junior

If the BJP leaders in Maharashtra hate anyone the most, it is Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut. Since 2019, the BJP and Shiv Sena have been at loggerheads and Raut has been an annoying critic from the viewpoint of the ruling party. His tirade against the BJP was seen as one of the reasons the gap between the two parties widened. Raut keeps targeting the BJP through editorials in Saamana, the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena (UBT) and then amplifies his attack by speaking to news channels almost every morning.

It often evokes strong response from the BJP leaders, many of whom react angrily when media persons reach out to them for comments. Earlier, the BJP leaders had decided not to react to what Saamana writes and not take Raut seriously. However, this did not work. Now, they have found a way to counter him. They have deputed union minister Narayan Rane’s son and party MLA Nitesh Rane to respond to Raut. So now, almost on regular basis, every time Raut says something, Nitesh responds and often launches a counter-tirade. In the latest, Nitesh has predicted that Raut will dump the Thackeray faction and will join the NCP by June 10. The Raut versus Rane enmity is likely to intensify soon.