Something doesn’t add up in Maharashtra
or does it: Prime Minister Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar?
The Thackeray twins doing a brotherly
tango. Sharad Pawar being offended by mere
seating arrangements!!! All happening in
real time, almost concurrently.
Something doesn’t add up. So let’s peddle a few theories.
Beginning with Sharad Pawar:
SP never ends up on the losing side.
Never. His only missteps can be
attributed to his oversized ambition to capture Delhi. Once that ambition was snuffed out, his moves
have been almost clinical.
Secondly, nothing in Maharastra politics
happens without his express consent or machinations.
Even the formation of the first SS-BJP
govt. came about thanks to his blessings.
Actually, thanks to CONgress rebels he put up, who in turn supported the
SS-BJP combine. There were 45
independents supporting that govt. and almost every single one was a Pawar
supported MLA.
Even formation of MNS was a Pawar power
move. Carefully calibrated to have max.
impact just in time for the 2009 and 2010 elections.
Pawar is perhaps India’s most talented
political Nostradamus.
Is Pawar seeing something on the horizon,
in the not so distant future that has forced him to expedite a plan he may have
kept under his sleeve.
So its well within the realm of
possibility that events of the past week are part of a master plan being
finally put in motion.
Is Pawar too eyeing Race course road and
moving to consolidate his hold over Maharastra so as to use a solid 40 MPS to
propel him to national center stage?
Let us look at the rather absurd
political actions of various Maharastrian political parties in just the last
few weeks.
1.
SS voting against BJP presidential and VP
candidates.
2.
Raj, Uddhav burying
the hatchet
3.
Pawar suddenly
finding his long lost backbone
4.
MNS for no rhyme or
reason abstaining from Presidential polls
Is it possible that Sharad Pawar is very
deftly engineering a realignment of forces within Maharastra to launch a
Maharastra based regional coalition.
An NCP-SS-MNS-RPI alliance would not only
be formidable but unbeatable.
CONgress for all intents and purposes is
now a North Indian, Mumbai based outfit.
Sharad Pawar controls the sugar lobby and will
negate any influence that the Vilasraos of the world exercise in that
region. Besides, apart from Vilas and
Sharad there aren’t many towering Maratha leaders left.
BJP was always a marathwada based
outfit. But as the last election proved,
even that stronghold can be breached.
Bottomline:
Sharad Pawar could strike a deal with
SS/MNS – give me 40 MPs in the next election and I’ll give you access to Mantralaya.
Sharad Pawar justifies alliance by saying
he wants to keep Narendra Modi out.
Plays the hero “Look I have weakened the BJP. How much more secular can I get”?
Another factor: the mere thought of a Marathi competing for
the long cherished throne of Delhi may galvanize the Marathi manoos into
forgiving Sharad Pawar’s past sins and voting for a Marathi Manoos combine.
Pull these disparate strings together and
you have the makings of a blockbuster trade, engineered by Chankya Sharad.
Prime Minister Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar?
p.s. I think this notion about Sharad
Pawar wanting to quit thanks to impending corruption charges is a
smokescreen. Don’t buy it one bit. This is the same Sharad Pawar who was Shahid
Balwa’s political mentor. Has anything
on 2g stuck to Pawar? And you expect us
to believe that a few crores on Maharastra Sadan related corruption charges
will scare Pawar. Give me a break.
