There were indications today that Sharad Pawar is prepared to work under Sonia Gandhi, giving up, for all practical purposes, his objections to her foreign origin. For a face-saver.What is reportedly under discussion is a formula under which Pawar would be given a free hand in Maharashtra with the state moving towards elections in September, and CM Sushilkumar Shinde moved out of Mumbai. Vijay Sinha Mohite Patil, at present Deputy CM, could be made chief minister.Pawar is expected to get a weighty berth in the Sonia Cabinet, though he is not likely to be made deputy PM. He may oversee the election campaign and strategy in Maharashtra and play a dominant role in the selection of candidates. The NCP is likely to get one Cabinet and one MoS berth.There is a view that the NCP-Congress needs to pull up its socks in Maharashtra for the forthcoming Assembly polls and that it would not be possible to do this under Shinde’s leadership. The Congress has lost Solapur twice in recent months, with Shinde’s wife defeated this time.Though the alliance between NCP and Congress could manage to buck the anti-incumbency in the state, the combine has been virtually wiped out in Vidarbha and Marathawada, and former Lok Sabha Speaker Shivraj Patil lost his seat, Latur. Mayawati’s campaign in Maharashtra led to the defeat of the Congress-NCP in half a dozen seats. These are areas of concern to both the Congress and the NCP.Officially, NCP spokesman Praful Patel said after the party’s meeting that the issue of Sonia’s foreign origin was no longer relevant. ‘‘We will agree with whatever consensus is evolved.” Pawar called on Sonia this morning and later said the issue of who would be PM would be decided in a day or two. Meanwhile, the jigsaw pieces seem to be falling into place. The CPP will elect its leader tomorrow morning and the pre-poll allies are expected to endorse it the next day. The Samajwadi Party is also expected to lend its support. SP general secretary Amar Singh said today that his party would do whatever the Left does.
