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Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of always finishing-off its regional allies. The NCP chief lauded Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for showing foresight in his decision to snap ties with the BJP.
Speaking in his Baramati bastion in Pune district, the NCP chief further accused the BJP of creating a rift within the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and gradually decimating it, keeping in line with its policy of weakening its regional allies.
Sharad Pawar remarked, “The BJP did the same in Punjab. At one time, Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal was their ally, but today the party is nearly finished there. Today, the BJP is planning how the Shiv Sena can be weakened in Maharashtra by trying to split the party…and Eknath Shinde (incumbent Chief Minister) and other rebel MLAs have helped the BJP in doing this.”
The NCP chief was widely considered as the architect of the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition of the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. The previous MVA government was toppled in June following the mega-rebellion by Shinde’s and 39 other Sena legislators which was allegedly aided by the BJP.
Pawar said that another speciality of the BJP was that it forged an alliance with a regional party at the time of elections, but at the same time ensured that its ally won fewer seats.
The NCP chief further argued, “This happened in Maharashtra too. When a similar picture emerged in Bihar, Nitish Kumar became cautious and took the decision to snap ties with the BJP. No matter how much BJP leaders criticize Nitish Kumar, he has taken a wise step.” Pawar praised Nitish Kumar for his ‘wisdom’ in anticipating the crisis the BJP was allegedly planning to trigger.
It was also an oblique comment on his ally, Sena chief Thackeray for not being careful enough in anticipating the crisis within his own party (Shiv Sena) which eventually manifested in the form of Eknath Shinde’s revolt.
In a swift rejoinder to NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s allegations against the BJP, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis remarked the BJP “never deceives its allies” while stating that it was Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena that had stabbed them in the back after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election (by opting to form the government with the help of the NCP and the Congress despite having fought the assembly polls together with the BJP).
Fadnavis remarked, “I don’t understand what Pawar is trying to say… The Shinde camp has 50 MLAs and we have 115. Yet, we have given them the CM’s post. In Bihar, while we had 75 MLAs, the JD (U) had only 42. Still, we kept our word and made Nitish Kumar the Chief Minister…I think Pawar’s regret is of a different nature.” In a way Fadnavis, drily alluded to the NCP’s disappointment at being out of power following Eknath Shinde’s coup.
The BJPs Deputy Chief Minister further said that because the Sena (led by Uddhav Thackeray) had stabbed the BJP in the back in 2019, the ‘real’ Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde had today had joined hands with the BJP. Fadnavis further took pot-shots on Sharad Pawar’s previous rebellion (in 1978) when he broke away from the Congress to form the Congress (Socialist) and toppled the Vasantdada Patil government to become the chief minister himself.
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