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The tussle of two Pawars
The power tussle in Maharashtra has turned into a fight between the two Pawars – Sharad and his ambitious nephew, Ajit – to gain control of the Nationalist Congress
The power tussle in Maharashtra has turned into a fight between the two Pawars – Sharad and his ambitious nephew, Ajit – to gain control of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
Ajit lent support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and took oath as the deputy of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday. Irked, Pawar is trying to isolate Ajit, by getting most of the 54 MLAs on his side.
After the rebellion came to light, the NCP held a meeting of legislators to pass a resolution to remove Ajit as the legislative party unit chief and appoint Jayant Patil instead. This meeting was attended by 41 MLAs. However, the party leaders claim they have 49 MLAs with them (some of them are yet to reach Mumbai) and just five are with Ajit. Of the five, two missing MLAs – Daulat Daroda and Babasaheb Patil –released separate videos on Sunday declaring support to the NCP. However, they continued to remain out of touch and it is not clear whether they will side with Pawar or Ajit. The message that two-third of the party’s MLAs were with Pawar was meant to suggest that those who go against it would face disqualification under the law.
Pawar has tried to convince Ajit to return to the party by resigning as the deputy chief minister. Senior party leaders Jayant Patil and Dilip Walse-Patil, too, met Ajit on Sunday. “All NCP MLAs have come back. We don’t want Ajit Pawar to left alone, which is why I have come to meet him,” said Jayant Patil, outside Ajit’s residence near Churchgate in south Mumbai.
However, Ajit refused to budge. In a move aimed at party legislators, he posted tweets to convey the message that he is not only firm on his stand, but he is the real NCP. “I am in the NCP and shall always be in the NCP and @PawarSpeaks Saheb is our leader. Our BJP-NCP alliance shall provide a stable Government in Maharashtra for the next five years which will work sincerely for the welfare of the State and its people,” he tweeted.
Before that he put up a series of tweets thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders who had wished him on taking oath as deputy chief minister.
“Thank you Hon. Prime Minister @narendramodi ji. We will ensure a stable Government that will work hard for the welfare of the people of Maharashtra,” Ajit Pawar said in one of the tweets
In response, the NCP chief made it clear that there was no question of forming an alliance with BJP and Ajit was misleading others. “There is no question of forming an alliance with @BJP4Maharashtra. NCP has unanimously decided to ally with @ShivSena & @INCMaharashtra to form the government. Shri Ajit Pawar’s statement is false and misleading in order to create confusion and false perception among the people,” Pawar said in a tweet, hours later.
Political analyst Prakash Bal said Ajit is sending a message to Sharad Pawar that he is still the NCP’s legislative party leader. “In this scenario, the role of the Speaker becomes crucial because tomorrow if he [Ajit Pawar] issues a whip to the NCP MLAs, which is likely to happen, to vote for the BJP, and if they do not obey his orders, the Speaker may disqualify them,” Bal said.
Anticipating the strategy of the BJP and Ajit to use the latter’s position as legislative unit chief of the party to their advantage, the NCP made sure the decision of the legislators to remove him from the post of the legislative unit chief was conveyed to the Governor. “We have submitted a letter to the Governor’s office informing him that the NCP has elected me as the leader of the legislative party,” said Jayant Patil.
The NCP also ensured that the letter was submitted to the Supreme Court during the hearing on a petition challenging the Governor’s decision to invite the BJP to form the government on Sunday.
Daroda, in his video clip, said: “I am safe and secure. I was elected as a NCP MLA and hence will follow the decision taken by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar and do not believe in rumors. Balasaheb Patil, too, said, “I have contested Assembly polls as an NCP member. I am still a follower of Pawar saheb and will remain so even in the future. Ajit Pawar is also with us. Do not believe in rumors.”
NCP insiders said their strategy was to get elected a Speaker elected, which will rule out Ajit Pawar’s claim. “The only option left with Ajit Pawar is to claim that he is still the legislative party leader. However, our strategy is get a Speaker elected. This will prove the BJP did not have the numbers and the government will not last,” said an NCP functionary, requesting anonymity.
Meanwhile the NCP chief kept Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in the loop over the developments. The duo also jointly met NCP MLAs to send out a signal to the legislators of all the three parties — Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress — that they are together and going against the party line could have consequences.
Early Sunday afternoon, Pawar reached Hotel Renaissance and was followed by Uddhav Thackeray. In a joint address, Pawar and Thackeray told the NCP legislators that they need to stay united. “Pawar saheb said that we have adequate numbers and we will soon form a government. The only thing we need to do at this moment is to stay united,” said an NCP legislator. Thackeray was present with his son Aaditya and other senior leaders. “Uddhavji said the alliance of the three parties will last long,” said another NCP legislator.
Pawar is also said to have assured top Congress leader Ahmed Patel that he will fix everything.
During the day, Raut launched a tirade against former ally, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Raut said the early morning swearing-in ceremony a day earlier was a “Black Saturday” for democracy. He also described the BJP’s political coup as “accidental shapathgrahan (oath-taking)”.
“The BJP thought Ajit Pawar was a big leader and he would come with 40-50 legislators. Taking Ajit Pawar on board was the BJP’s last resort to break the party, but it has backfired,” Raut said, adding the three parties – the Sena, NCP, and Congress – have the support of 165 MLAs.
“Sharad Pawar is a national leader. If the BJP is trying to form the government, it will not happen. It is a wrong step taken by the BJP and Ajit Pawar. One hundred and sixty-five MLAs are with the Shiv Sena, Congress, and NCP,” he said.
In his tirade, Raut alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Income Tax Department and the police are the “four main party workers of the BJP” and the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Raj Bhavan are “reserved players”. He added, “The beginning of the end of BJP has started, and this is the last game it is playing.”
