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By Ashish Wagh 

Pune, July 20,  2024: Maharashtra, the second largest State of independent India, is witnessing a new yet rustic model of politics. 

The State and it’s populace is falling prey to this model but are left speechless, forget being a part of anything actionable. Voters are not allowed to voice out anything including dissent. 

And, importantly, the faces pushing the new model are known to people. A seasoned senior politician like Sharad Pawar, Late Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray’s political heir Uddhav Thackeray, BJP’s so called Chanakya Devendra Fadanvis and the detractors Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar who is the nephew of Sharad Pawar. 

The seeds of defection are alleged to be sown by the top rung BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah who, during the 2019 elections, did not heed to Shiv Sena, BJP’s then alliance partner for over 25 years, over a constituency / ticket sharing arrangement. 

It was time for Sharad Pawar to step in. A close friend of Late Bal Thackeray. Immediately after the verdict, Mr Pawar cobbled up a new alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with Uddhav and Ajit in its fold. This helped the MVA assume power with Uddhav as the Chief Minister. 

The dreaded COVID 19 struck in a few months and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in an effort to save gullible people from losing their lives due to COVID 19, locked down India and Uddhav was left to be a Facebook Live Chief Minister. It is pertinent to note that it was not just Uddhav but not a single minister including Ajit Pawar, took efforts to step out of their hideouts to check on ground realities. 

As a senior citizen Shamkant Patil (87) from Pune puts it, “During COVID 19, the scare of the virus was much lesser as compared to the scare of what the Prime Minister Modi would announce on national television. No government was allowed to perform and very less funds were given to them for handling the situation.”

Patil’s comment is not an isolated one. According to an IT professional working with an MNC in Hinjewadi, Pune, who does not wish to be named, said COVID 19 was not a pandemic but a Plannedmic. Politics reigned supreme over healthcare of India with the PM coming up with thaali bajao and mobile torch extravaganza. It isn’t funny to fool your electorate in such flimsy manner, he stated.

The COVID 19 stretching till 2021 sent shivers down the spines of the working class which lost its livelihood across the country. 

This time lag, however, gave enough time for the State politics to be restructured. In just over two years, Uddhav had to quit as the CM. By this time, new political equations were being knit and intense lobbying by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, at the behest of the BJP’s Chanakya Devendra Fadanvis, started surfacing. Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA’s) were poached both by Shinde and Ajit Pawar. They even poached their respective political party’s’ symbols and formed the Mahayuti, much to the chagrin of Uddhav and the senior Pawar. 

The corridors of power were open to Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadanvis with Shinde becoming the CM while Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadanvis the two Deputy CMs. 

It’s common knowledge that alliances allow for greater exchange of thoughts and newer ideas for the development of their constituents. However, this doesn’t seem to be happening in the new born Mahayuti today. 

The mighty BJP squarely blamed Shinde and Ajit Pawar for it’s debacle in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections. The larger blame is on Ajit Pawar who could secure only one seat from his party. This is enough a reason for BJP bigwigs to punish those responsible, and all the guns point at Ajit Pawar and his fellow defectors.

The junior Pawar is evidently being sidelined in the Mahayuti, something that is not missed by his uncle Sharad Pawar. 

Indicating that he will leave the process of return of defectors to his second rung leaders, who stood by him, and he would go with their decisions, the senior Pawar has stated that Ajit Pawar is still a family member. 

With Maharashtra gearing up for the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections, a senior Mumbai based Political analyst said Ajit Pawar is keen on getting back into senior Pawar’s fold the soonest. 

Sharad Pawar is known to have cordial relations across party lines. Be it PM Modi or Mamta Banerjee, he is synonymous with power broking. This helped Ajit Pawar getting a clean chit by the ruling BJP government in the infamous Rs 90,000 Crores Irrigation scam in Maharashtra. 

Ajit Pawar is today facing the heat from his alliance partners and the politics is turning murkier by the day so much that it’s making him insecure. Same is the case with Eknath Shinde whose bunch of MLAs is on the verge of a steady collapse before the Vidhan Sabha elections. 

For Shinde, there are no doors open in today’s Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray group) but for Ajit Pawar, his uncle (Kaka) can save his career which is in jeopardy today. 

History has this famous cry which everyone in Maharashtra knows. “Kaka mala Vachva.” (Uncle, save me!) It was a cry for help by Narayan Rao Peshwa who had invited the wrath of the entire Peshwa clan for grabbing the throne after the death of his brothers. So much so that even his uncle Raghunath Rao Peshwa was not happy with him. Unfortunately, Narayan Rao was killed by the hired Gardi troop in front of his uncle.

Ajit Pawar is in a similar situation today and the age old cry seems to fit in. Maharashtra is watching and is geared up to show the door to Shinde and Ajit Pawar .