Was Ajit Pawar acting on his own?

The question is, did Ajit Pawar pull this plan, if there was any, all by himself without even a hint to the political mastermind Sharad Pawar?

Mumbai: On Friday night, as the newly formed Congress-NCP-ShivSena alliance touted as Maha Vikas Aghadi wrinkled out its differences to choose the reluctant Uddhav Thackeray as their CM candidate, Ajit Pawar- the dominant NCP leader was missing. While the TV cameras captured him going inside the Nehru Science Centre in Worli where the meeting of senior leaders of the three parties was scheduled, there was no picture of video of him coming out of the meet. A few hours later, he was holding a meeting with caretaker CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis at his Varsha bungalow. Amidst the announcement of Uddhav Thackeray as the CM candidate, no one really focused on where Ajit Pawar was.

The very next day Maharashtra woke up to the biggest ‘Takht Palat’ development- President’s Rule in the state being revoked pre-dawn and both Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar taking the oath. By the time anyone could figure out what had exactly happened, Fadnavis was already the Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar was the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. It was later revealed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar that his nephew had stolen the paper with signatures of all 54 NCP MLAs to show that he has the support of all of them. The list of signatures was an attendance sheet.

This overnight coup d’état by none other than the number two to Sharad Pawar in his party was nothing less than an act of backstabbing. Workers and supporters of NCP and Sharad Pawar did not mince their words calling it an act of betrayal by ‘Ajit Dada’. “Dada has mistaken. He shouldn’t have betrayed Pawar Saaheb like this,” one of his staunch supporters from Baramati told HW News.

Many NCP, Congress, and ShivSena leaders were clueless about the development. Then began the spree of NCP leaders meeting Ajit Pawar who was residing at his brother’s house to convince him against the decision. Ajit Pawar’s decision perceived to have a two-fold impact. One of the party: Reportedly many were upset in the NCP camp over the prolonged negotiation with ShivSena. Some also did not agree on giving up the CM post to ShivSena as there was a difference of just two seats. The other was on family: The Pawar family which is a closely-knit family has kept politics away from their personal relations. But Supriya Sule’s (Sharad Pawar’s daughter) emotional outburst made everyone question whether this will bring a rift in the family.

The drama over whether Ajit Pawar will return to NCP or not continued for almost three days. Meanwhile, the three parties moved to Supreme Court seeking immediate floor tests and shifted their MLAs to fancy hotels to quell defections. Despite creating a situation where the entire party was at stake, Ajit Pawar wasn’t removed from the primary membership of the party. As per party insiders, a report was prepared by the party’s disciplinary committee that sought his removal from the party. However, it was Sharad Pawar who was to take the last decision on it. The file was pending with him.

The relief came for the three parties on Tuesday when the Supreme Court ordered immediate floor test to be conducted by a Protem speaker and live telecast of the proceedings going against the conventional secret ballot system. This meant going against the party whip in the floor test would invite disqualification for an MLA. The BJP and Ajit Pawar camp realized it. In the afternoon Ajit Pawar resigned as Deputy CM followed by Fadnavis, effectively making way for Maha Vikas Aghadi to form the govt seamlessly in the state.

What was more astonishing is how Ajit Pawar received a hero’s welcome when he was back in NCP fold. During the meeting of all the MLAs at Trident hotel, NCP workers stood outside with placards that read “We love you, Ajit Dada”. Many also believed that Ajit Pawar’s move was a planned one that killed two birds in one stone: Revoking President’s rule and ending BJP’s weapon of attack calling Pawar corrupt politician.

The question is, did Ajit Pawar pull this plan, if there was any, all by himself without even a hint to the political mastermind Sharad Pawar? Was Sharad Pawar in know about this coup by his nephew and had silent support to it? What else can possibly explain the pending file on revoking Ajit Pawar’s primary membership?