Mumbai: Like Udhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, even uncanny Sharad Pawar seems to undergoing or experiencing the same agony.
Not so long ago, UdhavThackeray was dumped by his close confidant, Eknath Shinde, by walking out with a major chunk of the MLAs. That led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, an unholy alliance of ‘hardcore Hindutwa ideologue’ parties like Shiv Sena, discredited Congress and the opportunist Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
And the MVA government headed by over-jealous Udhav Thackeray gone amuck to destroy the reputation of the nation’s financial capital with a series of scams and unlawful acts, which include the arrest of upright Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, besides Sadhu’s lynching. The wrong-doings by none other than their leader like Udhav Thackeray led the staunch follower of Balasaheb Thackeray, the founder of the Shiv Sena, which was known for its pro-Hindu stance, to raise a banner of revolt, saying ‘Enough is enough’.
Inspired by the Shinde’s ‘dare devil’ act, NCP’s Ajit Pawar, who failed in a similar attempt in the past, this time around seems to have worked his strategy right by roping in none other than Praful Patel, the most trusted aide of Sharad Pawar, who also the party’s Rajya Sabha member.
Many political analysts, who believed in the political acumen of Sharad Pawar, too seem to have realized that his ‘games’ are over in Indian politics.
If Udhav’s Sena lost the confidence and patronage of the Hindus, then Sharad Pawar, his age is not on his side to revive the party, though a few leftover loyalists trying to claim that all those 40 of the 53 party MLAs, who deserted will return to the parent fold, is more unlikely to happen. Again, the reason is that Praful Patel, who was present at the oath ceremony of Ajit Pawar, made it abundantly clear that the entire NCP is with them and enjoys the blessings of none other than Sharad Pawar. What does it mean?
In other words, what is happening in the Shiv Sena, where not only the majority walked out with Eknath Shinde at the time of the split, but also those few who remained with him? Many political analysts feel that Sharad Pawar, today, has become a loner in the party willingly, maybe in the overall interests of the party as he cannot lead the party to fight another election. He seems to have retired to his fate when he decided to resign as the party chief.
He conceded the defeat as he realized that there is absolutely no scope to defeat the mighty BJP led by Modi-Shah due in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Praful Patel speaks the mind of Sharad Pawar when he says that the latter continues to their ‘guiding light”, dropping enough hints that they did take this extreme decision with his full knowledge.
And, the petition of disqualification of MLAs, etc is part of the same script that Sharad Pawar might have briefed Udhav Thackeray in the past. Thus far, Sharad Pawar and Udhav Thackeray, are set to become irrelevant in Maharashtra politics, sooner than later, however hard they may try to salavage the party and remain, as they lost credibility among the masses.
Meanwhile, sources close to shrewdest BJP’s political strategist and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, claim that the new alliance not only going to sweep the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but also the assembly polls too.
