Has Sharad Pawar played the game of resignation to save NCP from disintegration?

With the announcement of resignation from the post of National President of NCP, Sharad Pawar, apart from the politics of Maharashtra, there has been an uproar in the national politics as Congress and Shiv Sena, standing on two different poles of politics in Maharashtra, are coming together to form the government. The role of Pawar, who showed charisma, was also being considered very important in view of the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024. It was believed that due to his political stature and acumen, Sharad Pawar could play a key role in bringing together more and more political parties in a possible anti-BJP front ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. It was going so far as to say that Mamta Banerjee, K. Troubled by the rising political ambitions of Chandrasekhar Rao and Nitish Kumar, the Congress high command, especially Sonia Gandhi, was also relying heavily on Sharad Pawar.

In such a situation, the question is being asked that what was the need for Sharad Pawar to announce his resignation and separation from active politics at such a critical time? In recent times, the way his nephew Ajit Pawar has been repeatedly reported to go with the BJP, it is being said that Pawar may have submitted his resignation to save his party NCP from breaking up. May have played this bet because after this Pawar is seen emerging even more powerful. Entire NCP party is appealing to him to reconsider his decision. If Sharad Pawar withdraws his resignation and remains the President, then it will not be easy for Ajit Pawar to break the party because in this environment the MLAs of the party will not want to take the risk of rebelling against Sharad Pawar and even if Pawar does not withdraw his resignation The new president is bound to be of his choice.

In fact, sensing the future, Sharad Pawar always prepared different faces in the party in national and state politics. Delhi’s politics is being done by his daughter Supriya Sule, in which his old colleague Praful Patel is in the role of an ally, while Ajit Pawar has been in the position of surveyor in Maharashtra’s politics. But this balance seems to be disturbed at the moment. Whatever Ajit Pawar may say, but after the way he formed the government with Devendra Fadnavis last time, even the NCP leaders have lost faith in him.

Sharad Pawar knows very well that his or his daughter’s role in national politics can be important only if the party remains strong in Maharashtra as he is seeing the condition of Uddhav Thackeray. If Ajit Pawar breaks away from the party and joins the BJP, then the NCP will become weak in the state and his credibility in the front of the opposition parties will also reduce.

Perhaps this is the reason that according to his political style, Sharad Pawar has played this big bet which will surprise everyone. Now everyone is eagerly waiting for Sharad Pawar’s next step whether he withdraws his resignation or hands over the command of the party to someone else or remains the president himself and appoints someone else as the working president and if he does, whom does he make? What will be the official role of Ajit Pawar in the new setup of the party, it will also be a matter to be seen. It is also believed that by playing the game of resignation in Maharashtra politics, Sharad Pawar has also tried to send a message to all the opposition parties including Congress that he is ready to play a bigger role in national politics as well.

Santosh Pathak

(The author is a senior journalist and columnist)