The Congress–DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu faces a power-sharing deadlock ahead of elections, while Maharashtra politics is shaken by uncertainty over NCP leadership after Ajit Pawar’s death.
The bone of contention seems to be the Congress party’s demand for sharing power if the alliance should get the majority. (Photo: PTI)
The stalemate between the Congress and the DMK in Tamil Nadu continues. The bone of contention seems to be the Congress party’s demand for sharing power if the alliance should get the majority. Congress leaders have been complaining that being out of government gives them all the disadvantages of anti-incumbency with none of the perks of power. Rahul Gandhi himself is pretty adamant on this point and is talking about the Jharkhand model of sharing power. However, M.K. Stalin is equally adamant against allowing the Congress in government, because as DMK leaders point out, the politics of the state is such that it will not look very kindly on Dravidian parties allowing a national party a seat on the state cabinet. Instead, DMK leaders are talking about the Bihar model where as many as six Congress MLAs (the entire strength of the Congress in the state) are threatening to defect and join the Nitish Kumar government. In other words, they would prefer to take in Congress MLAs via that route and co-opt them, rather than giving power to the Congress outright. Well, it’s a stalemate for now. But with elections not too far away the two sides have little time to work out a solution. Who will blink first?
The tragic and horrific death of Ajit Pawar, the late Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, has shaken the entire political world. While the alliance has decided to swear in his wife and Rajya Sabha MP Sunetra Pawar in his place, there are crucial questions arising about the future of the NCP for it is now being said that Ajit Pawar had planned to merge his party with Sharad Pawar’s faction. But who would be the leader? At the time it was natural to assume that Ajit Pawar would lead from the front with Sharad Pawar’s mentorship. But now a lot has changed. Will Sharad Pawar be happy to let Sunetra Pawar or others like Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare or Jayant Patil take the lead? Or would he want to promote Supriya Sule instead? He has also (very interestingly) commented that he was not consulted about the decision to promote Sunetra Pawar as the Deputy CM to replace the late Ajit Pawar. Given this, will the merger be put on hold? There is also the larger question of which camp a “merged” NCP would align with. While Ajit Pawar’s faction is with the NDA, the Sharad Pawar camp is part of the UPA. Apparently, Supriya Sule is not too keen to switch to the NDA. That is also a consideration Sharad Pawar will be looking into before he gives the okay for a merger.
