THE PAWAR OF DREAMS

Ajit Pawar’s ambitions have once again redrawn political fault lines in Maharashtra

- DNYANESH JATHAR

Two weeks ago, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave an interview to a news channel to mark the first anniversary of the BJP-Shiv Sena government. When asked about the short-lived government he formed with the support of Nationalist Congress Party rebels led by Ajit Pawar in November 2019, Fadnavis said that NCP president Sharad Pawar had been in talks with the BJP to form government soon after the 2019 polls. A power-sharing formula, Fadnavis said, had been finalised, but the senior Pawar backed out at the last minute to cobble up the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the NCP, the Shiv Sena and the Congress. 

After the interview was aired, Sharad Pawar said he had indeed held talks with the BJP. But, he said, he had done so to expose Fadnavis’s hunger for power. “I was the president of the BCCI for a long time and know a few things about the game of cricket,” he said. “The batsman (Fadnavis) was willing to walk into the trap, so I bowled a googly and got the wicket.”

On July 2, barely a week after Pawar spoke about his googly, his nephew Ajit Pawar and eight senior NCP legislators—among them were Pawar’s trusted aides such as Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse-Patil and Hasan Mushrif—took oath as ministers in the government led by Fadnavis and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Ajit became deputy chief minister for a record fifth time. Clearly, it was a clever delivery from Fadnavis that left the elder Pawar stumped.