Pawar play: why ‘no one wants to hurt’ NCP (SP) chief

Seven candidates, including NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, on Thursday filed nominations for seven Rajya Sabha seats from Maharashtra. With this, six candidates of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, including Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Vinod Tawde, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nominee, Mr. Pawar, are set to get elected unopposed.

The run-up to the final day for filing nomination witnessed intense political drama – from all three parties of the Opposition MVA staking claim to one Rajya Sabha seat to Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde holding his cards close to his chest until the last minute.

The Election Commission issued a notification last month to announce election to 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 States. Of them, seven are from Maharashtra. Due to the numerical strength, the ruling Mahayuti can get six candidates elected while the MVA can get one. There were speculations of more candidates being fielded by the ruling dispensation. But the BJP, according to sources, decided not to field additional candidates, as a mark of respect, if Mr. Pawar was named the MVA candidate.

The NCP (SP) too insisted that the election will be unopposed only if Mr. Pawar was nominated from the MVA. So, the Opposition finally rallied behind him, but not without hectic politicking, shadowed by distrust.

It was also reflective of the lack of trust between two of the three MVA allies – the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT). Sena (UBT) is the biggest Opposition party in Maharashtra with 20 MLAs while the NCP (SP) is the smallest with 10 legislators. For the Rajya Sabha seat, the winning number in Maharashtra stands at 36 votes. The Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) would have together had the numbers to get one candidate elected. But both the parties expected each other to say no to Mr. Pawar.

While the Shiv Sena (UBT) initially staked claim to the candidature on the “merit of numbers” and the principle of rotation, the Congress said a party candidate would strengthen its position as the Opposition party in Parliament. “But nobody wants to hurt Sharad Pawar and say no to him. There was a time when we offered to give our support to Shiv Sena (UBT) if they said no to Sharad Pawar. But they never did,” a senior Congress leader told The Hindu.

A Shiv Sena (UBT) leader contested the claim and said while the Congress expected it to send a negative message to Mr. Pawar, the grand old party wanted the candidature for itself. “So, we would have been the bad party. And for what?” the leader said. Both the parties said the biggest factor was the assurance by Mr. Pawar that the talks of a merger with the NCP will not happen anymore and that the NCP (SP) will continue to remain in the INDIA bloc. “Soon after [NCP-SP leader] Jayant Patil made the announcement, we decided to give Pawar saheb our support. Looking at his age and his health, nobody wants to hurt him,” a leader said. Mr. Pawar, 85, completed 60 years in active political life this year. In a post on X on Thursday, he thanked the people of Maharashtra and his alliance partners for trusting him with another Rajya Sabha term for six years.

Shinde changed plan

It was because of Mr. Pawar’s nomination that Mr. Shinde also shelved his plan of negotiating for two candidates in the election. “It was a mark of respect for the senior leader. Nobody wants to hurt him at his age,” a Sena leader said. Springing a surprise, Mr. Shinde named Jyoti Waghmare, a local leader, as the party’s Rajya Sabha nominee.

The BJP named four candidates from four different caste communities.