Straw in the wind? Pawar, Cong agree on `little thing’

Consequently, the Federation election held yesterday was a mere formality belying intense speculation in political circles that it would be an all-out battle for supremacy and indicate which of the two was stronger for the post-result contest in the state Assembly election.

The mutually-agreed division of power means that NCP’s Namdeorao Patil will be president and Congressman Arvind Porediwar will be vice-president of the Federation. Theunderstanding was worked out ostensibly to avoid a contest since that might have opened the door for the entry of other parties, notably the Shiv Sena and BJP, both of which have been trying to find a foothold in the cooperative sector since they assumed power in the state.

Veteran Congressmen Babasaheb Kedar and Vishnuanna Patil apparently took the lead to arrive at the understanding. NCP leader and party president Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajitdada played along.

Before Pawar led the split in the Congress five months ago after he was expelled from the party, the Congress commanded a near-total reign over all cooperative institutions especially the state cooperative sugar federation and the state cooperative apex bank. The vertical split in the party, it was feared, would lead to a fight for power between the two groups in the cooperative institutions making them vulnerable to outside influence and control. The Marketing Federation election was considered an important one against this backdrop.

However, theunderstanding has rekindled hopes among both parties that there is indeed a possibility of joining hands in the Assembly too. With most pollsters predicting a hung assembly with almost neck-and-neck tally for both parties, Congressmen as well as NCP workers believe the two parties could work out a power-sharing formula for this would most certainly keep out the Sena-BJP coalition.

Leaders of both parties are understandably unwilling to comment at this stage; in fact both sides publicly maintain that there is little scope for post-result alliances. Congress leaders take pleasure in reiterating that all Congressmen now with the NCP are welcome to return to the parent party but minus Pawar. NCP leaders say they do not even entertain dreams of sharing power with the Congress. Yet, when it comes to brasstacks as in the strange part-business and part-political relationship between the two, it’s evident that they will negotiate a way out to divide the basket — if only to keep other aspirants out of thegame.