Secret plan of mega-merger in Maharashtra! Will Sharad Pawar and Ajit factions unite again? What big political secret is hidden behind this new condition of BJP and the monsoon session? Know the inside story.
New Delhi/Mumbai: There are indications of a major earthquake once again in the politics of Maharashtra. Amidst the game of check-mate going on behind the scenes, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a move that has shaken the political equation of the entire state. According to information received from inside sources, the entry of Sharad Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) into the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will be possible only if both the factions of NCP first merge with each other. This shocking development has come to light at a time when the monsoon session of Parliament is about to begin and the round of meetings between the leaders of the two factions of Maharashtra has suddenly intensified.
BJP’s new formula, will it change the politics of Maharashtra?
According to sources, BJP is currently not in favor of including Sharad Pawar faction in NDA as a separate political entity. The priority of the party is that first both the factions led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar end their differences and come forward as one party. Only after this any political partnership can be considered in future. This stance has come to the fore at a time when discussions about a possible rapprochement between the two groups are increasing in Maharashtra.
That wound of July 2023: Will the two opposing currents unite again?
Maharashtra politics saw the biggest U-turn in July 2023, when Ajit Pawar along with many of his senior colleagues rebelled against Sharad Pawar and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra. After this, the Election Commission considered Ajit Pawar’s group as the real NCP and handed over the party’s name and election symbol to them. In response to this, veteran politician Sharad Pawar formed his new party ‘Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)’ i.e. NCP(SP).
For the last several months, both the groups have been bitter rivals to each other, but now the news coming from behind the scenes suggests that BJP personally does not want to include Sharad Pawar or his associates in the alliance. BJP’s straight and tough stance is – “First resolve your mutual differences, merge amongst yourselves and come forward as one unit, only then will the doors of NDA open.”
Suspense of Monsoon Session: That magical figure of ‘850 Lok Sabha seats’!
Political pundits believe that there is a huge parliamentary mathematics hidden behind this new speculation and haste. In fact, the Central Government is preparing to present the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament starting from Monday. The main objective of this historic bill is to directly increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from the current number to 850 and start the process of delimitation afresh. At this critical juncture, the role of NCP (SP), which has 8 seats in the Lok Sabha and 1 seat in the Rajya Sabha, becomes very important. However, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule has said that if the seats of all states increase equally by 50% in delimitation, then there will be no reason for protest. But he also made it clear that the final decision will be taken only after the meeting of the opposition ‘INDIA’ alliance.
‘High-voltage’ drama of secret midnight meetings and claims
The stir in the political corridors of Maharashtra increased further when the presence of leaders of both the factions was seen at the official residence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis late on Wednesday night. However, senior NCP(SP) leader Jayant Patil rejected the claims of any political conspiracy. Patil clarified that he had met the Chief Minister only regarding local administrative matters of Sangli district. In another sensational statement, he said that all talks of merger with Ajit Pawar’s faction had ended only after Ajit Pawar’s untimely death in a tragic air crash earlier this year. Despite this, suspense remains over Sharad Pawar himself recently holding a meeting with his MLAs in the office of CM Eknath Shinde.
Demand for cabinet expansion in Delhi Darbar and further suspense
Amidst all this drama, Ajit Pawar faction’s state unit president Sunetra Pawar and her workers have raised the political temperature by raising a new demand. Party spokesperson Umesh Patil has openly expressed his desire that Parth Pawar, who became Rajya Sabha MP in April, should be given a ministerial post in the upcoming Union Cabinet expansion.
Rumor or new political script?
At present, no official political agreement has emerged from BJP, NCP and the opposition alliance. Most of the leaders are publicly rejecting the speculations of alliance or merger. Nevertheless, the frequent meetings, parliamentary mathematics and changing political equations indicate that behind the scenes in Maharashtra politics, churning on many possibilities is going on. Now it remains to be seen whether Sharad Pawar’s group will accept this maze at the national level and merge with its opposition, or will it stand with the ‘INDIA’ alliance during the monsoon session and destroy this ‘master plan’ of BJP? The eyes of the people of Maharashtra and the country are now on “wait and see”.