Why the spotlight is trained on Sharad Pawar

The NCP president will be crucial to the fortunes of the NDA and the  I.N.D.I.A. alliances in 2024 

Mumbai: Late on August 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to corner the Congress with charges of giving a raw deal to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar.

“The Congress did not allow Sharad Pawar to become the Prime Minister in spite of having all the abilities,” Modi reportedly said at a closed-door meeting of NDA MPs from Maharashtra in the national capital.

Modi’s statement came hours within Pawar attacking the BJP at a book release function in New Delhi.

Pawar claimed he had urged then PM P.V. Narasimha Rao to not believe the BJP’s promise that nothing would happen to the disputed structure in Ayodhya before the kar sevaks brought it down on December 6, 1992.

At the launch of senior journalist Neerja Chowdhury’s book ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’, the NCP founder said Rao went against the advice of senior ministers including Pawar and chose to believe BJP leader Vijaya Raje Scindia who assured Rao that nothing would happen to the Babri Masjid. Pawar was Defence Minister at that time.

In the limelight

The political spotlight has been firmly trained on Sharad Pawar since the last few days. On August 1, he was present on the dais at Pune, when the Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust conferred the Tilak National Award on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was being closely watched when the Rajya Sabha voted and passed the Delhi Services (amendment) Bill on August 7. Pawar had opposed the bill.

Last week, talking to reporters in Pune, the Maratha leader declared he would never join hands with the BJP.

“I cannot compromise on my principles. The question of going with the BJP does not arise,” he had said.

Why Pawar matters

Sharad Pawar’s role in the next Lok Sabha election in 2024 will be crucial in Maharashtra, the second most important state after Uttar Pradesh. The NDA and the I.N.D.I.A. front both need Pawar to be on their side to win a maximum of the state’s 48 seats.

Pawar is known for his great understanding of state politics and his skills in political manoeuvring. He is the architect of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi. If he continues his alliance with the Congress the opposition will be in a position to put up a fight. If he breaks the alliance, the NDA will sweep the election in the state.

At the NDA meeting in Delhi, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari advised MPs to remain connected with the ground realities and party workers. That is an indication that the BJP has taken the coming election seriously.

“We look at the I.N.D.I.A. front as a serious competitor. We will definitely try to break that front. Sharad Pawar and Arvind Kejriwal are among our targets,” says a BJP MP present at the meeting.