With Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar skipping campaigning during the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha election, speculation is rife about the rebel NCP faction being in turmoil.
Mr. Ajit, who canvassed vigorously in the third phase and went through the motions in phase four, has remained conspicuously absent from campaigning for his allies – the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena -- in the last phase in which 14 Lok Sabha seats, mainly in Mumbai city and Thane, go to polls.
The NCP leader had even skipped Prime Minister Modi’s roadshow in Ghatkopar on May 15, triggering rumours about Mr. Ajit being allegedly upset at the way things had turned out for his party, which was only given four Lok Sabha seats to contest on. However, his absence since May 11 was ascribed by his aides to the NCP leader being ‘unwell’ and ‘suffering from a bad throat’.
While Mr. Ajit finally made an appearance during Mr. Modi’s mega-rally on Friday evening at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, fresh speculation raged earlier in the day that his faction leader Sunil Tatkare had met Mr. Ajit’s uncle, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar in a Nashik hotel.
While Mr. Tatkare denied this, NCP (SP) leader and ex-Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said his party would not take the rebels back even if they were in touch with Pawar senior. “I heard from our partymen that Sunil Tatkare reportedly met Sharad Pawar... but even if they [leaders from Ajit Pawar’s faction] are in touch with us, we will not take them back into the party. Sharad Pawar saaheb has made this clear from the very beginning,” Mr. Deshmukh said.
Earlier, rumours of Mr. Tatkare meeting Pawar senior were preceded by eyebrow-raising remarks made by Chhagan Bhujbal, a senior leader of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Mr. Bhujbal said that the electorate in the State appeared to sympathise with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Mr. Pawar in this election.
The remarks are significant as they come amid reports that Mr. Bhujbal is ‘upset’ with his Mahayuti allies over the candidature of the Nashik Lok Sabha seat, which saw strife between the three ruling partners before sitting MP Hemant Godse of the Mr. Shinde-led Shiv Sena was finally fielded for the third time.
However, BJP leader Girish Mahajan, who met Mr. Bhujbal in Nashik earlier in the day, refuted suggestions that the NCP leader was ‘upset’.
Responding to Mr. Dehsmukh’s comments that Mr. Tatkare had met Mr. Pawar, Mr. Bhujbal said: “Several leaders of the NCP (SP) are in fact in touch with us, and not the other way round… As for Sunil Tatkare, he has been in Nashik for the last two days and has been meeting all MLAs there. He himself told me he has not been in touch with anyone from the rival NCP camp.”
In the past, whenever Mr. Ajit has been ‘unreachable’ or had ‘fallen sick’, it has served as a prelude to a political earthquake, while spurring debate among analysts on Mr. Ajit’s real motives behind his reported illness.
Political analyst Vivek Bhavsar said the body language of the rebel NCP leaders from Mr. Ajit downwards indicated that the rival faction seemed to have gotten the upper hand on the key Baramati and Shirur seats (both in Pune district) in this contest.
Mr. Ajit has staked his all on Baramati, which saw his wife Sunetra Pawar (as the Mahayuti’s candidate) pitted against his cousin Supriya Sule (MVA’s candidate), the incumbent MP and Mr. Pawar’s daughter.
“It was Ajit Pawar and the Mahayuti’s strategy to keep Sharad Pawar tied down in his Baramati campaign. However, the reverse happened. It was Ajit who found himself bogged in Baramati while his 83-year-old uncle ranged about freely, campaigning on seats in western Maharashtra and other parts of the State with equal vigour, and not merely in Baramati,” said Mr. Bhavsar.
