Few will believe the claim made by Supriya Sule that her cousin Ajit Pawar resigned from the post of Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra after he listened to his “inner voice” on allegations of a multi-crore scam in the irrigation sector headed by him earlier. Fewer still will believe his reasons for quitting were prompted by the noble intent of paving the way for an impartial white paper on the matter as promised by his bête noire, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. The marketplace is rife with resignation theories and chief among them is that Ajit has thrown down the gauntlet in a bid to wrest control of the Nationalist Congress Party from his redoubtable uncle and party president Sharad Pawar. The second most popular theory is the succession issue: that he is miffed after the elder Pawar nominated Ms Sule, who is his daughter, president of the prestigious Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan. Ms Sule also heads the NCP’s recently launched Yuvati Congress and is travelling across Maharashtra in an effort to woo young women into the party. Then there is always Ajit Pawar’s dislike of Mr. Chavan and how he is unable to work with him. He took a dim view of the Chief Minister’s action against the corrupt NCP-controlled Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank last year. The alacrity with which Mr. Chavan promised a white paper on irrigation a few months ago also upset his deputy.
Theories apart, it is clear that Ajit Pawar is sulking. He staged a show of dissent in 2009 when the party chose Chhagan Bhujbal as Deputy CM, an arrangement that barely lasted a year. This time, Ajit’s tactics are not working. Sharad Pawar has said that his resignation will be accepted and that the issue is over for the party. He also made it clear that the resignations of the 19 other NCP ministers who quit in solidarity will not be accepted. Though the ministers hastily put in their papers in a show of support for the younger Pawar, most are relieved their resignations can now be taken back. By acting impulsively, Ajit Pawar has put himself in a difficult situation. Even though he continues to be head of the NCP legislature party for now, he needs all the support he can muster to fulfil his dream of heading the State in the next elections. In 2009 he drummed up support from the majority of NCP legislators to demand that he be made Deputy CM. That rush of blood seems to have run cold for now. Sharad Pawar has made it clear that he is still calling the shots. By repressing his nephew’s antics for the time being, he has ensured that unless something more dramatic happens, the shaky coalition in the State will survive.
This article has been corrected for a factual error.
When we were kids and caught with our hands in the cooky jar, we always threw a tantrum like this to impress our Mom.If this did not work we used to say that Bhai also was doing it yesterday.
Who are you kidding , the Pawars are only saving each other.
India has been impoverished by this type of rampant loot.And where are the CBI, the media( busy in photogaphing the same Pawar) and the judiciary?
Congress and their henchmen have destroyed the entire social fabric of India.
Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar come to power again and again in Maharastra because of their caste and numbers (Maratha). It is not merit but a particular caste and its numbers that decide who rules Maharashtra today. This is not democracy but mobocracy indeed. The state that has seen stalwarts like Tilak and Agarkar, Savarkar has to see the antics and Tamasha of these so called "Chanakyas". Senior Pawar likes to project himself as a Chanakya.
Thousands of farmers have lost their lives despite the fact that Rs 72,000 Cr have been "spent" on irrigation projects. Who is responsble for their loss? Not only Pawars but the voters also. If you vote based on caste loyalty then you have no right to complain and whine when you get such leaders.
"Yatha Praja Tatha Raja"- People get the politicians that they deserve, indeed.
In Maharshtra there is urgent need for strong enlightened non-Maratha leadership to emerge.
Leave aside this high voltage theatrical what the nation should be
worriede about is the wastage of 70000 crores of peop;les money on the
so called irrigation schems swhich produced famine and drought and
farmers suicides to vidarbha farmers. This drama has perhaps clouded
the huge scame and tghe efurther action on this. Also not to be
msised is the fact that the stte cm has been facing a campaign by his
own minsiters with their own motives. What is needed for the npeople
and for the congrss if it wre to emerge as the single largestg party
in the next elections is a decisive action on the hgue dam scam.
The lucid editorial "Uncles and nephews" provides the best possible insight into the recent developments in Maharashtra politics, caused by the unexpected resignation of the Dy.Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar,nephew of the pThe editorial "Uncles and nephews" provides the best possible insight into arty chief Sharad Pawar. The reason for the resignation being quite obvious, the senior Pawar has done the right thing by accepting it and directing the 18 other party nominees in the cabinet, who too had handed over their resignation letters to the State Chief of the party, to withdraw them. The prospect of a crisis, both in the Satae and at the Centre, has been averted, at least for the time being.It is, however, very clear that marriages of convenience will not last long.
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