Ajit Pawar scores hat-trick, Sr Pawar’s googly backfires

MUMBAI NCP Supremo might have bowled a googly after googly at the BJP but it seems to have backfired at him as his nephew Ajit Pawar became the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra for the third time.

This is also seen as a major strategic move by Union Home Minister Amit Shah who has been masterminding the political games for the BJP. He tried to win the NCP support in 2019 but Sharad Pawar said he played a googly by launching the negotiations but by deciding not to join the BJP government.

Ajit along with nine NCP MLAs including former Deputy CM Chagan Bhujbal, joined the Maharashtra Cabinet causing a major political upheaval in the State policies. It is not possible that he decided to take this extreme step without the knowledge of the senior Pawar. Asked if he enjoyed the support of the senior Pawar, Ajit said “I have the support of all NCP leaders.”

“All MLAs and leaders are with us, all means all,” he stressed.

Ajit was the Dy CM in the short-lived Devendra Fadnavis Ministry, and later under Uddhav Thackeray. Justifying his decision, Ajit said he saw no chances of the opposition unity as an alternative to the BJP led by Narendra Modi. The Congress is facing opposition in every State such as West Bengal and Punjab. Moreover, the Modi government has been doing well in the service of the nation and Sunday's decision was in the interest of the State as well as nation, Ajit said. Another key point that Ajit made was that the NCP had already joined the Shiv Sena and what is wrong in joining hands with the BJP. NCP, like the Congress, has been opposing the BJP and Sena since they were anti-secular as they were propagating Hinduism.

With this, the national moves to foster an opposition unity with Sharad Pawar playing a pivotal role have suffered a big blow. As it is, his admission that he was negotiating with the BJP for a share of power has unsettled the Congress camp.

Sharad Pawar's close ally Praful Patel also joined Ajit camp and was seen at the Raj Bhavan when the latter took oath. Thus, Narendra Modi-Amit Shah’s strategy of ensuring not just Congress-mukt, but the Opposition-mukt Bharat. It is interesting to note that almost all the leaders who went with Ajit Pawar had some case or the other pending against them.

"I see no chances of the opposition unity as an alternative to the BJP. The Congress is facing opposition in every State such as West Bengal and Punjab. Moreover, the Modi government has been doing well in the service of the nation and this decision was in the interest of the State as well as nation"

- Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister