Myriad speculations over Fadnavis meeting Pawar, visiting Khadse’s home

Politics thy name is unpredictable. Friendships and animosities keep changing, at convenience, for the sake of mutual benefits. So, the state political circle is abuzz with rumours about the possible outcomes from the recent meeting where the leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis called on NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the latter’s residence. Even before the rumour mills took a break, he paid a visit to the residence of Eknath Khadse- his bitter critic and political adversary, at his residence in Jalgaon district and met Khadse’s daughter-in-law and the party MP Raksha Khadse. 

Both the developments are unexpected and unpredictable given the kind of bitterness that exists between Fadnavis, Pawar, and Khadse. One can easily recall it was only last year that both Pawar and Fadnavis made contradictory claims over the proposal of BJP and NCP joining hands to form the government. Fadnavis said such a proposal came from Pawar himself, but the NCP chief refuted it saying it was the BJP who approached him to form the government. Nobody knows who was speaking the truth. 

It was also seen that Pawar was very much critical of Fadnavis, be it during the state assembly elections in 2019 or after the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress came to power. But, politics apart, the state has seen camaraderie between bitter political rivals. Fadnavis has clarified that he met Pawar to inquire about his health as he recently underwent two surgeries. In short, it was a courtesy call. On the other hand, it’s difficult to believe that the meeting was just for this purpose, especially when the state is passing through a politically turbulent phase in view of the Supreme Court decision about the Maratha reservation and OBC reservation in local body elections. The SC has recently struck it down giving a severe jolt to the state government.  

The BJP is trying to corner the MVA on both the issues and vying to take political advantage. The party has given a call for an agitation and is hoping that its Rajya Sabha member Udayan Raje Bhosale should lead it from the front, when another RS member Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, nominated by BJP, is trying to go solo. Looking at the scenario, it is left to Pawar to do political manoeuvring to steer the MVA clear out of this political turbulence. And unless a political consensus is arrived the state cannot ensure peace and social harmony. As such, a strong possibility is that the topic figured in the discussion between Pawar and Fadnavis. 

The meeting happened within a few days of Sambhajiraje’s visit to Pawar. Fadnavis might have been very keen to know what exactly transpired between them or another possibility could be that Pawar gave some message to Sambhajiraje that reached Fadnavis.

Speculations are rife over BJP and NCP coming together to form the government and it has become a hot topic on social media platforms. But those who closely follow political developments in NCP and BJP, would not believe this. For Pawar, he would never discuss such issues at the state level when he can directly speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders. Even as his party has been in alliance with Congress since 1999, Pawar never had had any discussion with the state level leaders. And all the issues were finalized at the level of the Congress high command Sonia Gandhi or senior leaders deputed by her. 

Coming together of NCP and BJP is not that smooth or easy, given to the fact that prominent Pawar followers, particularly from Western Maharashtra have never wholeheartedly supported the idea. Sadashivrao Mandlik, a senior leader of the party and staunch supporter of Pawar quit on a similar issue and trounced Sambhajiraje, who contested as NCP candidate in 2009 Lok Sabha elections.  

After meeting Pawar senior, Fadnavis went to Jalgaon as a part of his state-wide tour and paid a visit to the residence of Khadse, his erstwhile senior colleague turned political foe. There he met Khadse’s daughter-in-law, Raver MP Raksha Khadse, who is with BJP. The meeting left many tongues wagging, but it is important given the recent defections from the BJP camp- in which local body members joined Shiv Sena. Khadse senior is now with NCP and he might persuade his daughter-in-law to fight next Lok Sabha on NCP ticket, which BJP may not want as there is no other suitable candidate to fight against her. BJP wanted to retain her and Fadnavis may have assured her of BJP’s full support. 

When Fadnavis was in Jalgaon, Khadse was in Mumbai. Here, he went to meet Pawar raising a few eyebrows. Though Khadse’s visit is being seen as a courtesy call, possibility cannot be ruled out about his eagerness to know about Fadnavis’s visit to Pawar. Because, he could be the biggest sufferer if any political understanding takes place between NCP and BJP. This point is crucial in the sense that a talk was on during the 2019 state assembly elections that BJP deliberately fielded weak candidates against NCP. Such tacit understandings are common in politics but not privy to commoners. 

Finally, there appears to be little or no possibility that NCP prefers to align with BJP to topple the three-party government. But the meetings between Pawar and Fadnavis along with that of Fadnavis’s to Khadse’s residence have certainly provided some fodder to political rumour mills.