Sharad Pawar’s puppet mastery is under fire this poll season

For the first time since he entered politics, Pawar has been unable to play and manipulate the BJP-led government as he did during other regimes in the state as well as the Centre

Speaking to a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue recently, I realised two things — they have absolute contempt for both Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray and yet will make ample use of both to gain electoral majority everywhere. Moreover, while RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat might contradict the Modi-Shah duo on a Congress-mukt Bharat, they harbour a fear of the “dynasty” that survives and endures despite all setbacks and failures and is the one thing that stands between the RSS and the complete takeover of the nation.

Even in a leader with more political acumen than most and formidable networking skills, the law of diminishing returns could kick in eventually. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT Photo)

They try to cover up their fear of the Nehru-Gandhis in ridicule but their ridicule of Pawar and Uddhav is unfettered by any such sentiment.

“Mark my words,” this insider told me. “No matter what Uddhav Thackeray might say or do now, the Shiv Sena has no choice but to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next elections.”

So while BJP president Amit Shah may see the Sena’s return to the Ram temple issue as a softening of its stance by the party and Uddhav might use it as a hard bargaining chip with the BJP, the fact remains that for the moment both need each other for survival.

Whose need is greater is a matter of perception but the final outcome on this alliance will depend on who stares whom down and who blinks first. But while that is par for the course in this long-troubled relationship between the Shiv Sena and BJP, my conversations with this insider succeeded in surprising me about their untrammelled contempt for Sharad Pawar.

“His entire astitva (raison d’etre) is the Italian origin of Sonia Gandhi. But still, he had no problem becoming a minister and staying in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) for 10 years with the largesse of that very Sonia Gandhi. And all that time he continued to help us in various ways.”

The bottom line is, they are willing to do business with Uddhav Thackeray despite all his barbs but will not trust Pawar beyond a foot or two.

Today, while the RSS is pretty sure of the stands and ideologies [and sincerity] of various political parties and regional leaders bitterly opposed to them, they have forewarned themselves about Pawar.

“He seems to be returning to the Congress but you can never be sure where or with whom he will finally stand. Only one thing is certain, he will not allow Rahul Gandhi to become the leader (of opposition unity),” this insider told me.

I have heard Pawar supporters in the past spin tales of how, while he teamed up with Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley, the latter did not realise how he was manipulating them to his own interest. But now I am beginning to think that even in a leader with more political acumen than most and formidable networking skills, the law of diminishing returns could kick in eventually.

The RSS might have been quite happy to make use of and benefit from Pawar’s power networking in the past but today, for the first time since he entered politics, Pawar has been unable to play and manipulate the BJP-led government as he did during other regimes in the state as well as the Centre – including those of Bal Thackeray and Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The saffron forces ridicule Rahul Gandhi for political reasons and believe they have manipulated him to a pro-Hindutva stance (Janeudhari Brahmin, Shiv Bhakt etc), that dilutes the Congress’s secular image but they have no time anymore for someone like Pawar, whom they believe really has no ideology but for commitment to just self.

If what I have gathered from these RSS insiders is really the general line of thinking within the organisation – for within the RSS, the right hand never knows what the left is contemplating – then it is clear that Congress leaders at least in Maharashtra will have an uphill task in the next elections if they put all their eggs in Pawar’s basket as they are hoping to do.

The assertion that Pawar while getting every benefit from the Congress actually helps the victory of the saffron forces rings true when one examines the Nationalist Congress Party’s (NCP) role during the Gujarat assembly elections and now in Madhya Pradesh where it plans to contest nearly 200 seats without even having a party organisation or network to show for it.

He could be used and discarded again by the saffron forces. His best bet now is to stick with the Congress with a measure of sincerity or risk being cut out of the picture forever.