Is this the nemesis of elder Pawar? Or will he re-emerge like a phoenix?
Nephew Ajit Pawar has repeated in July 2023 what uncle Sharad Pawar did in July 1978. Uncle Sharad, then 37 years old, walked across the Vidhan Sabha aisle with 40 MLAs belonging to Congress (Swaran Singh) to form a coalition with Janata Party, Peoples & Workers Party, Republican Party of India and the CPI(M) to become Maharashtra’s youngest ever Chief Minister. This was the first ever non-Congress government in the state.
In July 2023, Ajit Pawar has also crossed over, claiming support of 40 of the 53 Nationalist Congress Party MLAs and decided to share power with BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde), becoming Deputy CM in the enlarged coalition. In 1978, Sharad Pawar had named his party Samanantar Congress (parallel Congress). Ajit Pawar has gone a step ahead—his faction claims that theirs in the real party.
There is one samanantar (parallel) in both rebellions. In 1978, Janata Party included erstwhile Jan Sangh (precursor of BJP). In 2023, Ajit has aligned with BJP. NCP working president Praful Patel, who has walked across with the nephew, questioned the talk of ideological divide, which is cited by the Sharad faction to question Ajit’s action. Patel pointed out that in 1978 Sharad had no qualms in aligning with Janata Party, with its Jan Sangh component. In 2019, NCP had aligned with Shiv Sena, whose Hindutva agenda is perceived to be more abrasive, and formed MVA.
Power sharing, and not ideological cohesion, is now the norm, Patel pointed out. In this, the BJP’s masterstroke in accepting the NCP defectors into NDA fold becomes apparent. At a time when talk against RSS and the growing influence of BJP has become the adhesive for unity efforts of some Opposition parties (not all Opposition parties are inimical to BJP), the NCP exodus comes as a boost for the NDA effort. Fissures in NCP also put a spanner in the unity effort—the venue and date of the post-Patna exercise were changed. Next date as yet is uncertain as the perceived Opposition “Patriarch”, elder Pawar, is busy fighting bushfires in his backyard.
The NCP revolt also perhaps provides a closure to the debate on the “untouchability” of BJP. The Janata Party split in 1979 on the question of the erstwhile Jan Sangh members’ “dual membership” of RSS. This prompted the formation of BJP in 1980. In anti-Congress opposition confabulations of the 1980s, BJP was kept away. In 1989, V.P. Singh, who ultimately accepted BJP’s support, was wary of sharing a platform with the Sangh in his Bofors scam oriented crusade. Even after BJP emerged as the nation’s ruling party, anti-BJPism, which has replaced anti-Congressism of yore, had tinges of “untouchability”. Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel have revised that perception.
Praful Patel’s justification carries conviction. In 1992, when Babri Masjid was demolished, BJP took a while to applaud, though its Advani Rath Yatra programme had set the tone for the Ayodhya movement. Shiv Sena was quick to claim credit—late Balasaheb Thackeray praised Shiv Sainiks for their act. After Uddhav Thackrey became Chief Minister in 2019,with the support of NCP, he visited Ayodhya to mark the contribution of Shiv Sainiks in the Ayodhya movement. Patel has asked if Shiv Sena could be Sharad Pawar’s ally, then how can fault be found with Ajit’s alliance with BJP.
Two days before the rebellion surfaced, an undercurrent, unknown to Sharad Pawar, had swept through NCP. On 30 June, in a meeting convened by working president Praful Patel the party had removed Sharad and anointed Ajit as president of NCP. Elder Pawar, who was in Pune, was apparently unaware of this development, as was his daughter, Supriya Sule, the other working president of the party, appointed with Patel, after Sharad’s resignation drama a few months back. In his chequered political life spanning six decades, perhaps for the first time Sharad was checkmated. And that too by his nephew.
Another parallel in history comes to mind. Babu Jagjivan Ram had been a trusted and close lieutenant of Indira Gandhi. In 1969, when she split the Congress, she appointed him president of her faction. If researchers were to delve into Election Commission’s records, the 1971 victory will be found to be that of Congress (Jagjivan Ram)—the original party led by S. Nijalingappa was called Congress (Organisation) while what passed off as triumphant Congress (I—Indira) was officially recorded as Congress (J). In 1975, it was Jagjivan Ram who moved in the Lok Sabha the resolution for ratification of the Emergency proclamation.
After Indira Gandhi relaxed the Emergency (it was not withdrawn fully till her defeat in end March) on 19 January 1977, people were unsure about the restoration of democratic rights. They became sure on 2 February 1977 when Jagjivan Ram walked out with his supporters Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, Nandini Satpathy (former CMs of UP and Odisha) and formed Congress For Democracy (CFD), which later contested as an ally of the Janata combine to oust Indira Gandhi.
Jagjivan Ram’s speech on India Gate lawns on 2 February 1977 evening began thus: “Mahan netri Shrimati Indira Gandhi desh videsh ke netaon ke saath tarah tarah ke paintra kasti hain, kal raat humne socha ki hum bhi kyon na unke saath ek chhota sa paintra kasen. Aur main Emergency ke khilaf khada ho gaya hoon, bahar aa gaya hoon (Great Leader Mrs Indira Gandhi indulges in multifarious manoeuvres with national and international leaders. Last night I too planned a small manoeuvre with her—I decided to come out against the Emergency).”
Ajit Pawar’s rebellion has a tinge of Babu Jagjivan Ram’s path breaking manoeuvre. Revolt against Indira Gandhi proved ineffective after two years. Her heir apparent and son Sanjay Gandhi was the bulwark of her comeback bid. Will Supriya Sule, who has acquitted herself well as MP and who made a spirited defence of Sharad Pawar after Ajit’s diatribe past week, be the Sanjay Gandhi of NCP’s resurgence?
Is this the nemesis of elder Pawar? Or will he re-emerge like a phoenix?