(Pramod Joshi)
There is a tussle in the India alliance in Maharashtra after Shiv Sena (Uddhav) unilaterally declared its candidate. Sharad Pawar is angry with both Congress and Shiv Sena. Their complaint is that when there were talks of seat sharing, why did the constituent parties of Mahavikas Aghadi and MVA declare different seats? On the other hand, Sanjay Nirupam of Congress is angry with Shiv Sena. Uddhav Thackeray is also angry. There is also a tug of war going on between BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Party-NCP (Ajit). There was a tussle within the Samajwadi Party over the seats of Rampur and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. Even though Azam Khan is in jail, he got the ticket of Moradabad’s current MP ST Hasan canceled and Ruchi Veera got it. But he was not listened to in Rampur and Mohibullah Nadvi got the ticket.
Indian politics is not as simple as it appears. She is as round and tangled as a jalebi. Phrases like ideology, social justice, public service and ‘radical honesty’ have their place. Giving a shock to the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, Jalandhar MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joined BJP. Rinku was the only MP of AAP in the 17th Lok Sabha. He came into limelight when he was suspended for the entire session due to the uproar.
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This is not happening for the first time. Last minute stampedes, fights and rebellions during elections are nothing new. This time BJP has declared candidates on more than four hundred seats, out of which it had MPs on 291 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha. This time BJP did not give tickets to 101 sitting MPs. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the party had canceled the tickets of 119 MPs. Being ticketed leads to bad behavior. There are also games regarding seat distribution in alliances, but it is publicly pretended that everything is fine.
In this field no one is a permanent friend or enemy. Some alliances are formed before the elections and something else is formed after the results are declared. Mamta Banerjee has said long ago that in politics, this is the era of ‘post-paid’ and not ‘pre-paid’. Sitaram Yechury had said something similar when talks of India alliance were going on. It is not surprising that those who are friends today may become strangers tomorrow and ‘enemies’ today, friends.
permanent conflict
There are some occasions when the situation is tough, it remains tough. Acharya Kripalani was once a supporter of Nehru, who later became a critic. Nehru was once very fond of Jayaprakash Narayan, but his daughter Indira Gandhi considered him a staunch enemy. Balraj Madhok was at the peak of Jan Sangh, but he had such a clash with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani that he was thrown out of his own party.
Pranab Mukherjee was one of the senior most leaders of Congress. When Congress lost after the Emergency, he was one of the most trusted allies of Indira Gandhi. Later he also became a contender for the post of Prime Minister. Such an occasion also came when he left Congress and formed a separate party. He was not successful in that, came back to Congress and became the President, but his strength of mind did not go away, which is reflected in his diary, the edited excerpts of which have been published by his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee.
Sharad Pawar’s politics
Sharad Pawar is today the most experienced traveler on these winding paths of political relationships. It is not easy to understand the meaning of his displeasure and likes. Today he is in the forefront of the leaders standing against Narendra Modi, but behind the scenes their relations were always cordial. Pawar has written in his autobiography ‘Lok Majhe Sangati’ that when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he had established a bridge of communication between UPA and Modi.
Today he is in alliance with Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, but he was at the forefront of the leaders who left Congress after raising the question of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin. He has also played a role in giving Shiv Sena its status in Maharashtra. In 1996, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government was formed for 13 days, Shiv Sena was the first to support him. Shiv Sena had the upper hand in the alliance in Maharashtra. Gradually BJP started its expansion. Situations of conflict started arising between the two.
their role
The background of internal conflict in Maharashtra was prepared in 2009, when BJP got more seats than Shiv Sena in the assembly elections. Before that, Shiv Sena was in the role of elder brother in Maharashtra. He started to understand that the role was changing. In 2014, Shiv Sena did not contest the elections in alliance with BJP, but BJP’s strength increased further. On that occasion, Sharad Pawar promised to support the BJP government from outside.
This created panic in Shiv Sena and it not only had to join the government but also had to lose a lot. He was not given important ministries. Questions were raised regarding the files of his ministers. BJP leaders went to ‘Matoshree’ and stopped the consultation. All this happened thoughtfully, to show Shiv Sena its status. Sharad Pawar became helpful in this.
Sharad Pawar has been active in politics since 1960. The politics of Maharashtra for the last six decades revolved around him. In July 1978, he became the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra at the age of 38. Then he was accused of ‘stabbing a dagger in Vasantdada’s back.’ Sharad Pawar rebelled along with 40 supporting MLAs. Later he returned to Congress. Then, raising the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, she left the party and formed NCP. The credit for the Mahavikas Aghadi alliance in 2019 is also given to him. His resentment doesn’t make much sense. The atmosphere will remain the same till the elections, keep watching for changes in it from time to time.
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Tags: 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, Loksabha Election 2024, Loksabha Elections, Maharahstra, Mumbai News
FIRST PUBLISHED: March 30, 2024, 13:50 IST