Grief can be a balm on cracks. But the lure of power threatens to widen them at times. Political developments in Maharashtra since the tragic death of Ajit Pawar, the former chief of the Nationalist Congress Party, appear to be consistent with the above-mentioned inferences. The former deputy-chief minister’s shocking death in a plane crash had brought the Pawar clan together — momentarily. There was talk of the factions led by Ajit Pawar and his uncle, Sharad Pawar, merging, leading to the NCP’s unification. Apparently, the departed leader was working in this direction before his passing. But political calculations and personal ambitions seem to have thrown a spanner in the works. Sunetra Pawar, Ajit Pawar’s wife, has now been hurriedly anointed as the deputy chief minister, thereby becoming the first ever woman to hold the post. Tellingly, Sharad Pawar has stated that he had not been informed about the hasty swearing-in; Supriya Sule stayed away from the ceremony as well. Ms Pawar’s decision to take up the reins — was the decision her own? — seems to have widened the differences within the NCP that were beginning to be bridged. Strikingly, the chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has suggested that he was in the dark about the talks of the NCP’s merger.
The deductions from these loaded statements and actions are not difficult to arrive at. It is apparent that there are elements within the faction of the NCP once led by Ajit Pawar who are not keen on the party coming together again. Could their reservation have to do with Sharad Pawar eclipsing their hold? Could their presence in the Maharashtra government — the BJP is being supported by factions of the NCP and the Shiv Sena — then come under jeopardy? There will be a smile on the face of the BJP in light of the prevailing political eddies. A weakened NCP, albeit one willing to be a buffer between a bullish BJP and an ambitious Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, would suit the saffron party — for the time being.