“Ajit Pawar and 7 NCP MLAs have gone not reachable,” reported some of the media houses on April 10 and suddenly the episode of CM Eknath Shinde leaving Shivsena backed by Congress to form a new Shivsena backed by BJP flashed. People began speculating that Maharashtra’s former Dy CM might also leave the party, which recently lost its national status, to join hands with the BJP.
The speculations only deepened as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a chargesheet in the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank scam case, in which it had earlier attached the properties of a sugar mill linked to Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra Pawar, but dropped the duo’s names. Netizens posted tweets playing the market and claimed that Ajit Pawar might join the BJP soon, given the current political status of the NCP.
“Grand entry in the Bharatiya Janata Party,” said one of the Twitter users tagging NCP leader Ajit Pawar while the other one posted the famous meme from a TV show named ‘Tarak Mehta Ka Ultah Chashma’. The former lead character ‘Dayaben’ could be seen in the meme offering a traditional welcome aarti on behalf of the BJP saying ‘Aaiye Padhariye..’
Grand entry in @BJP4India @AjitPawarSpeaks
— 𝙂𝙃𝙍𝙏-𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖🇮🇳 | محمد شافي | (@_OfficialShafi) April 12, 2023
Lol
— Sarcasm and 198 Others (@anshu_mani) April 12, 2023
BJP to Ajit pawar…..
😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/nP5cqqOyv0
One user named Yashodhan Ganu also speculated that Ajit Pawar would soon join BJP and he also already welcomed the leader on behalf of the party. “Welcome to BJP, Ajit Pawar,” he tweeted.
WELCOME TO BJP = AJIT PAWAR
— 𝘠𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘥𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘯𝘶 (@yag412) April 12, 2023
Recently, Republic TV also reported that Ajit Pawar was exploring options to make a shift from NCP and that he was about to possibly join hands with the BJP.
#LIVE | Biggest political scoop from Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar exploring options, as per sources. Speculation over NCP leader possibly joining hands with BJP after series of comments.#NCP #AjitPawar #Maharashtra #BJP https://t.co/OtbW3AbUsM pic.twitter.com/dnwdE9ovs6
— Republic (@republic) April 10, 2023
Several recent political incidents revolving around the state of Maharashtra, involving the BJP and Ajit Pawar in specific, are making the media and people, in general, speculate Pawar’s probable shift and that truly stands important here.
1. ED omits the names of Ajit Pawar and Sunetra Pawar from the chargesheet
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday submitted a chargesheet against the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank, in which it had earlier attached the properties of a sugar mill linked to NCP leader and Maharashtra’s former Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra Pawar, to a court dealing with money laundering cases.
MSC bank scam case | Enforcement Directorate has submitted a chargesheet in the case, in which it has named a company linked to former Maharashtra Deputy CM & NCP leader Ajit Pawar and his wife, while Pawar and his wife have not been named in the chargesheet. The ED had attached…
— ANI (@ANI) April 12, 2023
However, Ajit Pawar and his wife Sunetra’s names have been dropped from the ED chargesheet but names of some companies, which came up while probing the MSC Bank scam, have been retained. The ED earlier had indicated that Ajit Pawar was indirectly involved in the case and that the major part of the funds utilised towards the purchase of Jarandeshwar SSK was received from Jarandeshwar Sugar Mills Private Limited, which received the same from Sparkling Soil, a company related to Ajit Pawar and his wife.
Ajit Pawar clarified the matter and stated that he has not yet attained clean chit in the matter and that the ED investigation against him is still underway. However, State BJP President Chandrakant Bawankule while commenting on the issue said that the ED omitted the leader’s name as it found no evidence against the leader.
Though the central agency works under nobody’s influence, the move to omit Pawar’s name from the chargesheet in the Shinde-Fadnavis-led government rule led to speculations with several people wondering if
2. Anjali Damania tweets ‘Pawar might join BJP’
‘Activist’ and politician Anjali Damania claimed on Wednesday that Ajit Pawar might soon join BJP. Tweeting about the issue, Damania said she was informed by someone in the Mantralaya that 15 MLAs from the opposition party in Maharashtra would drop out and Ajit Pawar would soon join the BJP.
“Went to Ministry today for work. There a person stopped me and gave me some interesting takeaways. According to him, 15 MLAs are going to drop out, and Ajit Pawar is going to join the BJP… very soon. Let’s see, what turn does Maharashtra’s politics take now,” her tweet in Marathi roughly read.
Damania also stated that Ajit Pawar seemed going away from the ideological box set up by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the political coalition formed after the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction), Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Sonia Gandhi of the INC. Notably, Damania had earlier joined AAP and she came into the limelight in 2012, after she blatantly accused BJP’s Nitin Gadkari of having a business partnership with Sharad Pawar.
Gadkari later rejected the allegations, saying that he had never met Damania, and sued her for defamation. The BJP also denied any link between Gadkari and Pawar. In the meantime, the then irrigation minister Ajit Pawar was forced to submit his resignation due to aligned actions of Damania amid the bigger Maharashtra Irrigation Scam.
The recent tweet by Damania has done nothing but contributed to the speculations of Pawar joining the BJP.
3. NCP losing national status
In a major setback to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Election Commission on Monday revoked the national status of the party formed by Sharad Pawar and stated that the party would now have state party status only in Maharashtra and Nagaland. The Commission is said to have revoked the NCP’s national party status on the basis of its election performances in 2014 and 2019.
While NCP MP Supriya Sule said that the decision taken by the ECI was acceptable to the party, losing the national status has upset several of its party members. There are speculations that Ajit Pawar too might be upset over the demotion of NCP by the EC and therefore may plan a move to BJP.
4. Ajit Pawar praising Modi
The state, especially the opposition parties, suffered a massive shock recently when the Leader of Opposition and NCP leader Ajit Pawar praised the BJP-led government and said that it was PM Modi’s magic that the party had reached the remotest of the locations. He also slammed the people who criticized Modi for his education and said that it was important to see how that man works.
“After winning the elections in 2014, Modi faced a lot of criticism. However, it’s a fact that he became very popular among the masses, and the BJP won polls in many states because of him. The BJP under his leadership repeated the 2014 feat in the 2019 elections. What is important to note is that people see his work. Education is not considered a very important criterion in politics,” he was quoted as saying.
Further, going against Congress’ demand to frame a law to give voters the option of using ballot papers besides EVMs in local governing bodies and Assembly polls, Ajit Pawar reposed faith in the EVMs and said that the people who lose the elections start blaming the EVMs and fail to accept the mandate of the people.
He pointed out that if EVMs were faulty, the opposition parties would not be in power in states like Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He observed, “It is not possible to manipulate EVMs in our country. It is a big system altogether, lots of checks and balances are involved.”
Pawar is constantly making attempts to break ranks with the opposition parties and expose cracks in his coalition with the Congress in the state of Maharashtra, allowing people to speculate about his shift from the party to the BJP.
5. Sharad Pawar backing Adani
On April 8, in an interview with the NDTV, Sharad Pawar questioned the credibility of the Hindenburg Research Report which levelled the allegations against the Adani Group. Pawar disagreed with the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the alleged scam and later clarified that his disagreement is on the ground that a JPC will have a majority of the ruling party and a Supreme Court-monitored panel would be better, in his opinion.
Pawar also opined that the attack on Adani by the Congress Party seemed like a targeted attack to him. “Such statements were given by other individuals too earlier and there was a ruckus in parliament for a few days but this time-out proportion importance was given to the issue. When they raise issues that cause a ruckus across the country, the cost is borne by the country’s economy, we cannot disregard these things. It seems this was targeted,” Pawar was quoted as saying to the NDTV journalist Sanjay Pugalia.
#PawarToNDTV | “Seems Targeted”: Sharad Pawar To NDTV On US Short-Seller’s Adani Report
— NDTV (@ndtv) April 7, 2023
Read More: https://t.co/ZWup3mI3bK#NDTVExclusive pic.twitter.com/oZ9HGYglIM
While speculations were rife about cracks in the opposition camp, Congress asserted that the NCP had formally supported the JPC demand and that Sharad Pawar’s remarks might be his personal opinion.
Later, LoP Ajit Pawar who backed Sharad Pawar’s stand on the Adani issue, said that Sharad Pawar’s stand was now the stand of his party and that he would not go against it. However, he said that the recent difference of opinion among the MVA partners on the Adani issue was no threat to the coalition.
The NCP supremo further happened to back PM Modi on the degree education issue and asked whether someone’s education degree could be a political issue in the country at a time when the country is facing unemployment, law and order issues and inflation. This was in response to jailed AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s letter last week from Tihar which read that the country needed to have an educated person in the PM’s post.
Ajit Pawar also, as mentioned above, later praised PM Modi and suggested people, including the opposition, see his magic and not his education or his college degree. These statements and actions by the Pawars are making strong the belief of the people who think that the Pawars are not showing unity with the opposition.
6. Ajit Pawar’s first attempt to join hands with the BJP
However interesting the politics of Maharashtra has been in the past four years, one cannot forget the episode of 2019 when the NCP leader joined hands with the BJP and then took a back seat forming a coalition with the Congress and BJP’s former ally Shiv Sena. Ajit Pawar on November 23, 2019, took oath as the Dy CM of Maharashtra with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis becoming the Chief Minister. However, the government lasted for not more than 80 hours and it collapsed on November 26, 2019.
The ‘coup’ panned out after the Shiv Sena walked away from its three-decade-old ally BJP and joined hands with the diametrically opposite in ideals, the Congress and the NCP, to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi. Sharad Pawar then made sure that the MVA came to power.
What exact discussions happened on the night of November 22 and 23 which first led Ajit Pawar to join hands with the BJP and then withdraw his stance are still unknown. Pawar never talked about it. But back then people speculated that it was Supriya Sule and Sharad Pawar who controlled the massive political and family twist and ‘directed’ Ajit Pawar to be a part of the MVA-led government and take oath as Dy CM of the state.
If the latter twist ie, Ajit Pawar resigning from the post of Dy CM to be with MVA would not have occurred, today Ajit Pawar would probably be with the BJP and the power of NCP would have diminished. Ajit Pawar’s honest urge to be with the BJP in power cannot be ignored here.
Commenting on the issue, the current Dy CM of the state Devendra Fadnavis had stated that the NCP Supremo knew everything about Ajit Pawar’s dramatic exit after 80 hours of joining hands with the BJP in 2019. “We had an offer from the NCP that they needed a stable government and we should form such a government together. We decided to go ahead and hold talks. The talks happened with Sharad Pawar. Then things changed. You have seen how things changed,” Fadnavis said recently.
“In all fairness, I want to state that Ajit Pawar took an oath with me with honesty… but later on their (NCP’s) strategy changed,” Fadnavis added. However, NCP stalwart Sharad Pawar called Fadnavis ‘uncultured’ over his remark. The BJP then pressed over the fact that it was Sharad Pawar who had given a message that the BJP-NCP government could be formed.
7. Parth Pawar has a soft corner for the BJP?
Parth Pawar, elder son of the leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar has always had a soft corner for the political ideology possessed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and now the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena. Junior Pawar, who is still looking for stability in his political career had earlier extended his grand wishes welcoming the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Going against the party stand, he had called it a cultural victory and had said that the Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Mandir will remain etched as the ‘civilisational awakening of Bharat’.
He also, in the initial days of his career had tweeted ‘Jai Shree Ram’. Supriya Sule then covered him up saying that his activities cannot be called anti-party and that it is his personal opinion. Also, Sharad Pawar had called him immature. Junior Pawar then also demanded a CBI enquiry in the Sushant Singh Rajput case, forcing the party loyalists to question if everything was fine among the Pawar clan. Sharad Pawar had earlier stated that he had full faith in the Mumbai Police and that he would have no problem if there are demands for a CBI probe after the investigation by the Mumbai police is over.
Today is a historic day. Bhoomipoojan at Ayodhya today will be etched as civilisational awakening for Bharat. However, we need to steadfastly safeguard the secular fabric of our nation. We need to be gracious in this cultural victory. #JaiShreeRam
— Parth Pawar (@parthajitpawar) August 5, 2020
My thoughts: pic.twitter.com/pxhVyJS8rA
Several people back then including Nikhil Wagle, a journalist and Maha Vikas Aghadi government sympathiser were profoundly perturbed by Parth’s demand for a CBI inquiry into the Sushant Singh Rajput’s alleged suicide case and his statement on the Bhoomi Pujan of the Ram Mandir. Wagle wondered if anything is “cooking” in the precarious Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.
I don’t understand why @AjitPawarSpeaks ‘ son Parth is helping BJP. First he demanded CBI probe in #SushantSingRajputDeathCase and wrote a letter congratulating Modi on Ram Mandir bhumipoojan. What’s cooking?
— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) August 11, 2020
Also, Chaitanya Purandare, a member of the Maharashtra State Commission For Protection of Child Rights had indicated that Parth had a soft corner for BJP and Devendra Fadnavis. “In Mahabharata, Parth (Arjun) was an admirer and huge devotee of Devendra (Lord Indra),” he had tweeted.
महाभारतात
— Chaitanya Purandare (@Chaitanya_INC) August 10, 2020
पार्थ हा देवेंद्राचा
निस्सीम भक्त होता
This is only months after father Ajit Pawar was forced to return from the BJP-NCP pairing and be a part of the MVA coup again. Also recently, Parth Pawar met state minister and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena (BSS) leader Shambhuraj Desai. Though this meeting was described as a personal visit later, it has led to rising speculations about whether the NCP has kept its lines open with the ruling alliance just like in 2019.
8. Dada respects Fadnavis and never attacks directly
Ajit Pawar is well-known for his confrontational demeanour in Maharashtra. He is called Dada. However, he tends to shy away from going after Devendra Fadnavis directly when it comes to the BJP. This was once again demonstrated when information about famed bookie Anil Jaysinghania’s alleged relationships with Amruta Fadnavis, the wife of Maharashtra Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis, surfaced. Ajit Pawar did not criticise the investigation or demand a ‘fair’ trial, like other opposition parties.
Also, ‘Dada’ avoided responding when Devendra Fadnavis commented on the 2019 political upheaval episode. He said nothing while NCP supremo Sharad Pawar called Fadnavis ‘uncultured’ and said that the latter was spreading ‘false’ facts. Ajit Pawar and his son Parth Pawar have always had good relations with the BJP and they continue to respect even the national BJP-ruled government now.
But ‘once bitten, twice shy’, they say. While there are speculations that Dada might want to join the BJP in the coming future, Devendra Fadnavis needs to take care to avoid possible danger or problems similar to the ones that occurred in the year 2019 due to Pawar’s dramatic entry and exit from the BJP-NCP pairing. Notably, Ajit Pawar has time and again put a line through his party shift guesswork and stated that he would remain loyal to the NCP.
