Renunciation is a tried and tested instrument that politicians, especially the veteran warhorses, wield at times of rebellion in their party ranks. Sharad Pawar Tuesday used it to powerful effect to divert attention — and perhaps, partially scotch — speculation that his party, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was headed for a split. There is buzz that Pawar’s nephew and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, like in 2019, was set to cross over with his supporters to the BJP’s side. Pawar Senior’s public announcement in Mumbai that he was giving up the NCP president’s post has, for now, turned around the conversation and brought the party together. Under pressure from supporters, Pawar may reconsider his decision but in the meanwhile, he has announced a panel of senior leaders to pick his successor. In short, he has elevated himself above the rough and tumble of daily politics, including micro-management of his party, and made it difficult for potential rebels to walk out now.
However, the resignation drama may have only postponed the crisis within the NCP, which is more than a mere question of leadership or the ambitions of a set of leaders. The NCP, born out of the Congress in 1999, has built itself around the persona of Sharad Pawar. His charisma and grass-roots connect influenced many middle-level, influential Congress leaders to join the NCP. Many of them — for instance, state chief Jayant Patil — have emerged as leaders in their own right. The party has also expanded and seems to carry the Congress legacy. The contradiction, visible in many other regional outfits, is that as the party expanded, leadership began to be identified more and more with the Pawar family. Besides Ajit Pawar and Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and the NCP’s face in Parliament, the third generation has entered electoral politics. The NCP, which had mirrored the Maharashtra Congress’s character wherein many regional satraps, who drew their influence from links to cooperatives, came together to constitute a decentralised leadership, seems to veer towards a centralised command. Sharad Pawar, being the seasoned politician, seems to recognise that it would not be easy for this “high-command culture” to continue in the NCP in his absence. His decision to have a panel to nominate the next party chief is a smart move for it gives the impression of a choice being made through a democratic process.
It remains to be seen to what extent the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the opposition alliance that Sharad Pawar had forged, will be immune to the churn within the NCP. The MVA in Maharashtra is centered on opposition to the BJP and the claims of Uddhav Thackeray to the Chief Minister’s office. Pawar Senior’s skills in coalition management have helped the MVA weather the many ambitions and contradictions among its constituents. His challenge now will be to convince his followers to stay the course.
