The swearing-in of Sunetra Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister has laid bare the growing fault lines within the Pawar family. |
Mumbai: The swearing-in of Sunetra Pawar as Deputy Chief Minister has laid bare the growing fault lines within the Pawar family. The discomfort was evident when family patriarch Sharad Pawar publicly stated that he was unaware of the ceremony held on Saturday evening in Mumbai. Almost simultaneously, talks of a merger between the two factions of the NCP appeared to collapse, following a rapid sequence of political developments over just three days.
Merger Talks Collapse
Events moved swiftly. A meeting of the NCP legislature party was convened, with messages dispatched late on Friday night. Shortly thereafter, Sunetra Pawar left Baramati with her two sons – dropping off her elder son, Parth, in Pune before proceeding to Mumbai with Jay. Parth, in turn, returned to Baramati soon after Sharad Pawar’s media interaction, during which the senior leader made pointed, at times sensational, remarks on the unfolding political situation and the stalled merger proposal.
More than the merger itself, the manner in which developments unfolded is revealing. Sharad Pawar not only feigned ignorance about the swearing-in but also confirmed that discussions had indeed taken place between late Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil on unifying the two NCP factions.
Sharad Pawar’s Statement
At this critical juncture, the BJP – the senior partner in the Mahayuti government – appears to have moved decisively, seemingly to derail any possibility of a merger. The BJP, it is widely believed, does not want the NCP to drift away from the alliance. Significantly, just a day after Ajit Pawar died in a plane crash, the BJP released full-page newspaper advertisements offering condolences.
With the NCP meeting and the swearing-in ceremony taking place on Saturday, the BJP, without issuing any public statements, appears to have effectively scuttled the merger plan. Had the merger gone through, the NCP faction led by late Ajit Pawar could itself have fractured, as the Sharad Pawar-led group was clearly disinclined to align with the BJP. Sharad Pawar underscored this point, stating that a post-merger alliance with the BJP was never discussed in meetings between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil.
Political Implications
A reunited Pawar family would have posed a serious challenge to the BJP, given their significant influence among Maratha voters.
Had the plane crash not occurred and Ajit Pawar succeeded in unifying the party, a section of senior NCP leaders may have stayed away, potentially forcing realignments that now seem improbable.
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