His party fighting for survival and struggling for an identity, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar cleverly hitched a ride on the Bandra-Worli Sealink to build bridges with the Congress ahead of the assembly elections in the state later this year.
During the inauguration of the Sealink on Tuesday, Pawar, known for political pragmatism, was the one to suggest that it be named after the late prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Pawar tried to strike an emotive chord with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was also present for the inauguration, by calling Rajiv Gandhi the “bhoomi putra” of Mumbai (Maharashtra). Sonia has always described Mumbai as a special place: Rajiv Gandhi, her late husband, was born here.
This was a calculated move to quell the unrest within the NCP over its survival and identity. Pawar hopes the gesture will culminate in Sonia giving her nod for an alliance with the NCP in the state polls and revitalise his party.
Seasoned leaders in the two parties indicated this could be the beginning of a long partnership between Sonia and Pawar. They said it was even possible that the NCP merges with the Congress after the assembly elections.
Pawar is aware of the huge opposition within the Congress to an alliance with the NCP. A section within the MPCC and AICC is actively working to isolate his party after its poor showing in parliament polls.
The union agriculture minister took the initiative to soothe those opposed to the partnership and also set the stage for negotiations on his own terms over seat-sharing for the polls. NCP sources said the party will not go back on its decision to fight 124 of the 288 seats in the state.
Sources in the NCP said Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel had scripted the move. “It was aimed at silencing anti-NCP voices, led by union heavy industries minister Vilasrao Deshmukh,” a senior NCP leader said.
Immediately after the function, Patel left for Delhi to clinch the poll pact. The NCP has appointed him to hold negotiations on alliance and seat-sharing with Sonia. Patel shares cordial relations with AICC general secretary Ahmed Patel, who is also the political advisor to Sonia Gandhi.
A majority of the leaders favoured an alliance with Congress during the two-day marathon meeting of the NCP at its headquarters at Nariman Point to study the party’s poll preparedness. The chairman of the NCP strategic committee, PA Sangma, said, “There was an overwhelming consensus within the organisation that NCP should have an alliance with the Congress.” He indicated that a final decision will be taken before July 15.
