What ‘Adani’ twist in the Sharad-Ajit Pawar tale implies

A masterstroke meant to create “confusion” about his politically-resurgent uncle or a self-goal as it involves candid admission about the involvement of powerful corporate groups in political upheavals? Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s revelation that billionaire Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, was present during parleys between the BJP and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2019 has set political circles abuzz in the state in assembly election season.
Ajit, who split from uncle Sharad Pawar in July last year to join the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, has claimed in an interview that senior BJP and NCP leaders, such as Amit Shah, Devendra Fadnavis, Sharad Pawar and Praful Patel, were present during the negotiations.
In 2019, the undivided Shiv Sena broke up with ally BJP to join hands with the NCP and Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray. This was, however, preceded by a short-lived government led by Fadnavis with Ajit as his deputy. Pawar Senior had led from the front to put down his nephew’s rebellion.
In June 2022, Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena and joined hands with the BJP to become Maharashtra chief minister. In July next year, Ajit split the NCP and joined the government, ironically days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had charged the NCP with graft in irrigation projects.
On his part, Sharad Pawar has said that while the meeting took place at Adani’s residence in Delhi, the industrialist was not part of the discussions. The NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) president said that the meeting was held at the behest of his party colleagues then, who felt that the cases against them by the central enforcement agencies would be settled if they joined hands with the BJP.
Ajit too subsequently watered down his position on the row and claimed that Adani was not present at the meeting. This has been seconded by Fadnavis.
The Congress has charged the BJP with favouring Adani. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has connected the BJP’s polarising ‘Ek hain toh safe hain’ poll slogan, which is allegedly aimed at consolidating Hindus, with the controversial move to grant the makeover of Dharavi, India’s largest slum, to the Adani group.
The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has also said it will cancel the decisions taken by the Mahayuti government in favour of the corporate.
A source close to Sharad Pawar said the timing of the revelations may have been intended to “create confusion” about Pawar Senior, who has not taken an aggressive position against the industrialist unlike allies Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), and his next moves. “Pawar saheb has admitted he met BJP leaders at Adani’s houseâ€æ but what matters more is the eventual decision that he took. He did not ally with the BJP,” the source said in Pawar Senior’s defence.
“He did not compromise with the BJP even when his party was on the verge of a split,” reasoned the source, adding that one reason for Sharad Pawar being soft on Adani was the potential impact on the investments in Maharashtra if a major corporate was targeted.
An NCP leader, however, said Ajit was trying to set the record straight. “Pawar saheb was involved in parleys with the BJP and the Shiv Sena-Congressâ€æ Ajit dada is projected as a gaddar (traitor) for joining hands with the BJP, but it was Pawar saheb who set the ball rolling,” he claimed.
For the 2014 state polls, the NCP had snapped its alliance with ruling partner Congress soon after the BJP announced it would contest the elections sans a tie-up with the Shiv Sena. When it became evident that the BJP was emerging as the single-largest party in the new legislative assembly, yet short of a simple majority, the NCP announced it would back the BJP to ensure a stable government in the ‘interests’ of the state.
Fadnavis has claimed Sharad Pawar was involved in the talks with the BJP, but pulled back after the BJP leadership refused to jettison ally Shiv Sena from the government and its alliance.
In 2019, Pawar is said to have chosen the MVA, of which he was seen as an architect, over an alliance with the BJP as it would have been difficult to hold the cards in a government led by the latter. The NCP was seen as being in the driving seat in the Thackeray-led MVA regime, with Ajit, who was the deputy chief minister and finance minister, considered to be the de facto chief minister. In contrast, the BJP’s Fadnavis is seen as a hands-on administrator.
Pawar and Ajit are locked in a battle for survival in western Maharashtra and also in the family pocket borough of Baramati in Pune. In the Lok Sabha elections, Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule trounced sister-in-law and Ajit’s wife Sunetra in the Baramati seat, in a major embarrassment and political setback to Ajit.
In this assembly election, the two NCP factions are facing off in 37 seats. While the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) is contesting from 86 seats, Ajit’s party is in the fray in 59.
In the assembly election battle for Baramati, Ajit faces a tough challenge from nephew Yugendra, who is the son of his younger brother Shrinivas aka Bapu. The rivalry has seen Pratibha Pawar, who is Sharad Pawar’s wife, and their grand-daughter Revati Sule being stopped from entering the Baramati textile park, of which Sunetra is the chairperson, for almost 30 minutes. The vehicles were allowed entry later.
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