Though the reverberations of Sharad Pawar’s shock decision to step down as national president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were felt among his allies in the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress said that there was no reason to believe the MVA was in danger because of Mr. Pawar’s decision.
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena camp, on the other hand, claimed that the MVA’s very existence was now “in peril”, adding that the NCP was “welcome” to join the ruling alliance if they adhered to its ideology.
A discordant note was struck within the MVA by senior Congressman and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who said that while the NCP cadre were importuning Mr. Pawar to reconsider his decision, it was also true that some senior NCP leaders had been in touch with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Mr. Chavan — who is campaigning for the Congress in Karnataka’s Belgaum district for the upcoming Assembly election — told a vernacular news channel that the BJP would have to break the MVA and weaken it if they were to win the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
‘Question mark over NCP’
“It has been reported in newspapers that some senior NCP leaders apparently met [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah in Mumbai… The question arises whether some leaders in the NCP are indeed moving towards the BJP. If so, how many NCP MLAs will go there? So, there is speculation as to whether Mr. Pawar’s stepping down as NCP national president was really because of his advanced age [of 82 years] or was he frustrated with happenings within his party [regarding some leaders moving towards the BJP]?” asked the Congress leader, alluding to the NCP’s past dalliances with the BJP, and particularly NCP leader Ajit Pawar’s attempt in 2019 to form the State government with the BJP.
Mr. Chavan said that there was no reason to believe the MVA was in jeopardy unless one of the three parties moved out of the coalition to join the BJP.
“The Congress will not leave the MVA and join the communal BJP. When it comes to Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena faction, there is a lot of bitterness between them and the BJP for them to ever reconcile again. But a question mark hangs over the NCP, given their past brushes with the BJP and with the latest buzz in news reports [of Ajit Pawar allying with the saffron party]. Though I do not think it likely to happen,” said the Congressman.
‘End speculation’
Dismissing Mr. Chavan’s apprehensions regarding his party, NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said that someone was trying to “mislead” Mr. Chavan.
“The NCP is firmly within the MVA and against the BJP. What is happening currently [Sharad Pawar’s stepping down as party president] is our internal matter. When Pawar saheb himself has ruled out any alliance with BJP, a full stop must be put to this speculation,” Mr. Tapase said.
Senior NCP leader and former Union Minister Praful Pratel had also scotched rumours of any “split” within the NCP or of any faction planning to align with the BJP.
Speaking at the Y.B. Chavan centre in Mumbai, Mr. Patel, the NCP’s national vice-president, further said that news about Baramati MP Supriya Sule — who is Mr. Pawar’s daughter — being appointed the next national president of the party was “speculative”. The objective of all NCP leaders right now is to get Mr. Pawar to reconsider his decision, he insisted.
‘No political retirement’
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, known for his affinity to Mr. Pawar, stressed that the latter had “not taken political retirement”. Despite announcing that he would step down as NCP president, Mr. Pawar would continue to remain politically active and would “not rest until the BJP had been decimated at the State and the Centre”, Mr. Raut said.
“I know Mr. Pawar well… He has not given any indication of retiring from politics. A leader like him is the very breath of politics. He may have resigned from post of his party’s president, but this will never affect his stature as a politician at the national level and as the creator of the MVA. While this is their party’s internal matter, a decision taken by a leader of Mr. Pawar’s stature will have a ripple effect across the country’s politics,” said Mr. Raut, adding that the Thackeray Sena had taken a “wait and watch” stance on the future course of events.
The Thackeray camp loyalist further hastened to add that the MVA’s Vajramuth (Iron Fist) rallies which have appeared to meet with success on the ground, had “not been cancelled” as a result of Mr. Pawar’s decision.
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Mr. Raut, as well as NCP president Jayant Patil, said that while the dates of the scheduled MVA rallies in Pune, Nashik and Kolhapur may have been deferred owing to bad weather conditions, the rallies had not been scrapped.
‘MVA in peril’
Meanwhile, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena camp, jubilant at the disarray within the NCP, said that the MVA’s very existence was now “in peril” and that there would be no future joint MVA rallies. “There will be no more Vajramuth rallies. The MVA will not remain in existence anymore, so there is no question of holding rallies together,” Shinde camp MLA Sanjay Shirsat said.
Disparaging Sanjay Raut as acting as the spokesman for other parties, Mr. Shirsat said that it was Mr. Raut who had played the biggest role in splitting the Shiv Sena, and was now helping to divide the NCP as well.
“The internal turmoil within the NCP following Mr. Pawar’s resignation has made the ordinary party worker restless… It is Sanjay Raut who is responsible for this as he has alienated Ajit Pawar by claiming to speak on behalf of Sharad Pawar. We are waiting to see who will be the next NCP national president and then we will accordingly speak further on this,” Mr. Shirsat said.
Shinde faction chief whip Bharat Gogawale, meanwhile, said that the NCP was “welcome” to join the ruling Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP alliance provided that they adhered to its ideology. “We have always said we would welcome the NCP in our alliance provided they decide to adhere to our ideology. Even if there is any problem in the seat-sharing arrangement, it can be sorted out,” Mr. Gogawale said.
