As Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti coalition struggles to cope with seat-sharing problems sparked by the induction of Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction, Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis is on a hectic ‘pacification’ campaign to douse past acrimony between ruling allies over key Lok Sabha seats like Baramati and Madha.
On Wednesday, Mr. Fadnavis signalled the prompt resolution of past differences within the three parties (the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar-led NCP) at the regional level.
Mr. Fadnavis, along with his ally, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, convened hectic ‘reconciliation’ meetings with leaders today who have been bitter political adversaries of Mr. Pawar in the past but now find themselves as uneasy partners within the ruling Mahayuti.
Mr. Fadnavis summoned senior BJP leader Harshawardhan Patil, Mr. Ajit Pawar’s bitter rival from Indapur which is part of the Baramati Lok Sabha seat.
A former Congressman and Minister from western Maharashtra, Mr. Patil, a former four-term MLA from Indapur was trounced in the 2019 Assembly election by Dattatrey Bharne, a staunch Ajit Pawar loyalist. He joined the BJP soon after.
As it widely believed that Mr. Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra Pawar, will be the Mahayuti candidate for the Baramati seat, Mr. Pawar will need Harshawardhan Patil’s support this time.
“Be it the Madha Lok Sabha or Baramati, everyone’s aim is to strengthen the Mahayuti and to make Narendra Modiji the PM once more. So, all past differences that exist must be resolved. I can say that the meetings I have been having on this count have been positive,” Mr. Fadnavis said.
Commenting on Mr. Patil’s differences with Mr. Ajit Pawar, Mr. Fadnavis expressed confidence that he would campaign wholeheartedly for Mr. Ajit Pawar’s candidate in Baramati and adhere to coalition dharma by leaving past rivalries behind.
Speaking on today’s meeting with Mr. Patil, Mr. Fadnavis said: “He was not upset. He had some questions and I have assured him of their resolution. Ever since Harshawardhan Patil joined the BJP, he has been diligently working to take the party forward. I have full confidence that he will campaign for the Mahayuti’s candidate in Baramati.”
A fortnight ago, Mr. Patil had shot off a grievance letter to Mr. Fadnavis, alluding to a ‘sinister’ political campaign against him allegedly begun by Mr. Ajit Pawar’s NCP workers in Indapur.
Speaking after his meeting with Mr. Fadnavis today, Mr. Patil said he had conveyed to the Deputy CM of the need to have a face-to-face discussion with Mr. Ajit Pawar on certain issues as well.
“I am not upset regarding [schisms within] the Mahayuti coalition. But, for the coalition to succeed in the coming Lok Sabha election, an atmosphere of a grand coalition [translation of Mahayuti] must be created between cadres and leaders of the three parties. It is the responsibility of not just one party but everyone in the coalition to ensure it happens,” Mr. Patil, who was accompanied by his daughter Ankita Patil, said.
At the same time, Mr. Patil refrained from giving a direct answer on whether he would campaign for Mr. Ajit Pawar’s wife, Sunetra, if she were officially announced as the Mahayuti’s candidate.
“We discussed about Lok Sabha seats in western Maharashtra, especially Baramati. We put forward our questions and the feelings of our workers before Devendra Fadnavis, who has assured me that he will take steps for a satisfactory resolution of these problems. There is no doubt we have to work together to make Narendra Modi the PM for the third time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fadnavis convened a meeting late Tuesday night between Madha’s sitting BJP MP Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar and Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, head of the politically influential Mohite-Patil clan, at his official residence in Mumbai in an effort to patch-up past rivalries between Naik-Nimbalkar and Mohite-Patil that are threatening to cast a shadow over the Mahayuti’s chances in Madha (in Solapur district).
The BJP has already announced its sitting MP, Mr. Naik-Nimbalkar, as the candidate for the Madha seat in its first list of 20 candidates for Maharashtra. This has upset the Mohite-Patil clan, which constitutes the influential political aristocracy of Madha given that Vijaysinh is gunning for a ticket to be given to his nephew, Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar was also present during Tuesday’s meeting between the rival factions from Madha.
Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, a former NCP leader was once a close aide of Sharad Pawar and had served as Maharashtra’s Deputy CM.
The Madha issue is further complicated given a recent meeting between Pawar senior and Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, with the former reportedly trying to woo the latter back to his fold.
Just before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the seething rivalry within the undivided NCP between the Pawar and the Mohite-Patil clans over the Madha Lok Sabha constituency had resulted in Vijaysinh’s son - Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil - to join the BJP.
