MVA’s biggest challenge to build confidence and regain lost trust within

A Congress leader, requesting anonymity, said, “The NCP is unpredictable. Such ambiguity does not work when you have to fight the BJP.”

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi president Prakash Ambedkar echoed the concern. “When two-thirds of NCP MLAs have joined the BJP, what Opposition front are they going to lead? It needs to be clarified,” he said.

NCP president Sharad Pawar’s decision to share the dais with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Pune on Tuesday invited sharp reactions from both the Congress and the Sena (UBT). However, what went undiscussed was that senior Congress leader and former Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde was also present at the event. He is associated with the Lokmanya Tilak Trust, which bestowed the prestigious award on Modi.

Even before the Pune event, the cracks within the MVA were evident. It has never been able to project itself as a united front, and the Congress has always been doubtful about the NCP.

Earlier, at a meeting at Pawar’s residence on May 14, the three parties decided to fight the elections together and constitute a six-member committee to chalk out a seat-sharing formula.

In less than two months, on July 2, Ajit Pawar along with over 36 of the total 53 NCP MLAs joined the BJP-led government, in a major blow to the Opposition front.

After the June 30, 2022, jolt that left the Shiv Sena vertically split, Uddhav Thackeray has a daunting task to rebuild the party organisation. The revolt by Eknath Shinde saw 40 of the total 56 MLAs distance themselves from the Thackeray-led Sena faction. The dislodging of the MVA government not only led to its disintegration but also exposed fissures within the three-party coalition.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis later said that when the MVA was in power, the differences were not visible. “Once they were in the Opposition, the cracks within the MVA surfaced,” he said.

Political observers say the challenge within the MVA is not ideological, but one related to a trust deficit.

The differences had come to the fore during the “vajramuth” rallies held at Sambhajinagar, Nagpur and Mumbai. The Congress and the NCP made known their discomfort with Thackeray’s style of functioning. The “attempts at building a larger-than-life image” for him when the Sena (UBT) was smarting from the split was not acceptable to the allies.

“The Shiv Sena (UBT) projecting Uddhav Thackeray as the leader of the MVA in the rallies was not acceptable,” a Congress insider said.

Moreover, the Congress and NCP (then undivided) felt they were putting all efforts to mobilise crowds for the rallies, where Thackeray would make a speech taking all the credit.

Even the MVA has drastically changed since 2019. The Congress has kept its position intact with 44 MLAs. With Sena’s (UBT) 16 and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP’s 17 MLAs, the alliance now has 77 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly.

The ruling coalition has become stronger with the addition of Ajit Pawar’s 36 MLAs. Together with the BJP’s 106 and the Shinde-led Sena’s 40 MLAs, the ruling coalition has 182 MLAs. The tally rises to 192 when independents are added.

State Congress chief Nana Patole said his party had never compromised on its stand against the BJP. “We are consistent in taking the BJP head-on. Whether it is in the Assembly or in street battles, the Congress has always fought the BJP,” he added.

“The MVA’s role is to put up a united front against the BJP. We are confident of overriding the differences within,” Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said.