Who’s switching sides in Maharashtra? Speculations arise on Bhau Beej
Politically estranged cousins Supriya Sule and Ajit Pawar, the daughter and nephew of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) patriarch, Sharad Pawar were seen together on the occasion of Bhau Beej (called Bhai Dooj in northern India and Bhai Phonta in Bengal), on Wednesday.
Supriya tweeted a video in which she was seen dutifully putting a tilak on her elder cousin Ajit’s forehead at her aunt’s house. The Pawar clan had gathered at their stronghold of Baramati in Pune district on the occasion.
This has given rise to speculations. Would Ajit Pawar convince his uncle Sharad Pawar to join the NDA in supporting the BJP, and thus break away from the INDIA alliance?
Though still officially with the NCP, Ajit Pawar is part of the ruling NDA alliance in Maharashtra as deputy chief minister, with another breakaway faction head, Eknath Sinde of Shiv Sena as the chief minister.
Sharad Pawar, the all-India president of the NCP, on the other hand, has said that he heads the real NCP and that people like Ajit, Praful Patel, NCP working president, and Sunil Tatkore, the part’s state unit president, have no place in it.
The first spark for the speculations flew on November 10 when news came that Ajit Pawar had met his uncle, Sharad, followed by he, Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkore meeting Home Minister Amit Shah, the master tactician of the BJP.
And then came this sibling bonhomie on Bhau Beej.
Supriya Sule, however, has sought to put all speculations to rest by saying that they all came to her aunt’s house as she is unwell.
She had said earlier too that her political affiliations would not cloud her familial relations. “Emotional relationships and professional work are two different things. I will never mix the two,” she said after Ajit switched sides to the NDA.
What the cousins spoke about can only be imagined.
It should be noted that not only the general elections to the Lok Sabha, but the Maharashtra Assembly elections and the Mumbai municipal corporation elections, another hotbed of politics, are also scheduled to take place in 2024.
