Quid pro quo begins as Ajit Pawar switches sides
July 3 Mumbai
The recent development in the Maharashtra political scene has added to the conundrum among the state’s political factions. NCP leader and former Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has, on Sunday, pledged support to the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance along with other Nationalist Congress Party MLAs. Pawar was also sworn in as a Deputy Chief Minister (apart from Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP).
Discussions are on regarding the motive behind Ajit Pawar’s dramatic move and attributions are being made to the apparently soured relationship between him and his uncle Sharad Pawar. The NCP Chief had appointed his daughter Supriya Sule and Praful Patel as the party’s working presidents. This is being seen as the reason for Ajit Pawar’s resentment and the cause behind his move to support the ruling coalition.
After joining hands with the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar heaped praises on Narendra Modi and his strong leadership. Interestingly, the statements made criticising Narendra Modi and BJP have been taken off Ajit Pawar’s Twitter timeline, although a few old tweets still remain.
Vijayalakshmi Nadar, a US-based journalist, tweeted regarding this. She has said that a viral video of her criticising the Modi government, and retweeted by Pawar, has been taken down from his timeline
It is noteworthy that Ajit Pawar subscribed to such scathing remarks against the BJP and RSS, and now finds it convenient to hail Modi as an able administrator. The full video can be found here.
Eight other NCP leaders also joined the ruling BJP-Sena coalition along with Ajit Pawar and were sworn in as ministers on Sunday. Several among these leaders are under the Enforcement Directorate’s radar. They are part of the ED’s probe in cases of money laundering.
With such developments, talks of the BJP being a “cleansing agent” that attempts to rid its affiliates of all previous charges – be it corruption, misuse of public funds or criminal charges has gained momentum on social media and among the general public.
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