Sharad Pawar, leader NCP (National Congress Party) met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue of agriculture crises in the state of Maharashtra. This meeting has alerted many people. The meeting comes at the time when Maharashtra is under President’s rule and the process of forming a government is nothing short than a roller coaster ride.
In the letter written to PM Modi by Pawar, it was said ‘Due to the prevalence of Presidential Rule in the state, your urgent intervention is highly necessitated.’ Adding ‘I shall be grateful, if you take immediate steps to initiate massive relief measures and ameliorate the miseries of distressed farmers’.
NCP currently hold high importance in the state of Maharashtra, as if BJP do get in an alliance with the party it’ll be able to form a government in the state. It is believed that the 78 year old Pawar can be offered the position of the President of India. No single party received majority seats in Maharashtra Assembly Elections.
Later in the evening leaders of Congress and NCP are supposed to have meeting to discuss on the specifics of their alliance with the Shiva Sena of Maharashtra, a party who was an ally of BJP for a long time and only recently broke all ties over power sharing with BJP.
In 2019’s Maharashtra Assembly Elections, BJP and Shiva Sena contested as an alliance, and won more seats to form a government than actually required (161/145), but as Sena demanded equal share of Chief Minister’s position (2.5 years CM from each party) on rotational basis, the alliance fell apart. BJP even discredited the claims of Shiv Sena that before the elections it was already decided to share Chief Ministership on 50-50 basis.
Right now Shiva Sena is waiting for NCP and Congress to agree on forming a government in the state together, but the wait keeps getting longer for Sena, as both NCP and Congress are taking their time to evaluate the pros and cons.
On Monday, 18th November 2019, PM Narendra Modi praised NCP in the 250th session of the Rajya Sabha. He said ‘Today, I want to appreciate two parties, NCP (National Congress party) and BJD (Biju Janata Dal). These parties have wonderfully adhered to parliamentary norms. They have never gone into the well (to protest).’ Modi continued ‘Yet, they have made their points very effectively. Every political party, including my party, should learn from them’.
Some reports have surfaced which says that BJP, the party which won the maximum seats in Maharashtra (105) is trying to get NCP, the third highest seat securer (54) in Maharashtra to form a government together. To do so, it is being said that Pawar has been offered the position of the President of India, that’s a very big deal to let slip.
Sanjay Raut senior leader of Shiva Sena, and an aide of Uddahav Thackeray met Pawar last evening, claiming that it was he who asked Pawar to discuss the state of farmers in Maharashtra and how affected they are.
Raut said ‘if Uddhav Thackeray comes to Delhi and all of us meet PM Modi, then what khichdi will you cook (Media will publish some inexplicable speculation)? Many MPs will meet the PM to speak about Maharashtra’.
Earlier, Shiva Sena said that the process of forming a government in Maharashtra with the help of Congress and NCP is on track and the state will get a CM in the ‘early days of December’. Today Raut said ‘all obstacles that were raised in the last 10-15 days have been cleared. By tomorrow you will know that all obstacles have been cleared’.
With Sharad Pawar’s recent replies to the media have still left void, which shows that the alliance between NCP-Congress-Shiva Sena is not yet a sealed deal.
Shiva Sena said they are willing to reinstate their alliance with their former friends (BJP) only if BJP agrees to share the Chief Ministership on 50-50 basis.
On Monday, Pawar addressed the media and said ‘There is no question of supporting the BJP. We will have discussions with the Congress, our partner’ after he met Sonia Gandhi, Interim President, Congress.
