Why is Sharad Pawar keeping everyone on tenterhooks?

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar's claim that there was no split in his party and that Ajit Pawar continues to be its leader has baffled all.

He went on to say that some NCP leaders have taken a different political stand but that cannot be termed a split.

The Maratha strongman has mastered the art of politics and is known to throw up surprises.

He knows well how a split is caused in a political party for he along with Tariq Anwar and PA Sangma revolted against Sonia Gandhi soon after she became the Congress president in 1998 ostensibly on the issue of her foreign issue. They formed the NCP in 1999 and within months aligned with the Congress to form a coalition government in Maharashtra.

But Pawar's remarks have clearly added to the suspense in the Maharashtra political circles with many wondering which side the veteran leader was on right now.

In fact, he was widely blamed for the so-called split in the NCP both in 2019 and 2023. There were suggestions that he had deliberately sent Ajit Pawar to the BJP to escape action by the central agencies on the allegations of corruption against a section of NCP leaders.

If one goes by the circumstantial evidence, Pawar would obviously be seen as someone who had orchestrated the split in his party.

Just before Ajit Pawar was sworn-in as the deputy chief minister along with Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister in the eventful early morning of November 23, 2019, Sharad Pawar had held a marathon meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.

It was later stated that the Prime Minister and senior Pawar had not discussed politics, but issues related to farmers and the agriculture sector.

The coup had eventually failed and a coalition government, comprising Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP, finally took over and lasted till June last year when Eknath Shinde vertically split the then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's party.

Sharad Pawar had clearly outwitted the BJP for all corruption charges against Ajit Pawar had been dropped and from a politically untouchable person he became a man of integrity and a clean slate.

Similarly in June this year, before he joined the coalition government in Maharashtra as the second deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar had held a detailed meeting with his uncle. Prior to that, a business tycoon along with Praful Patel had met the Maratha strongman in Mumbai.

Soon after Ajit Pawar met Sharad Pawar, he joined the ruling side once again. It was widely perceived that he had the blessings of his uncle this time.

Again, all corruption cases, which were reopened against Ajit Pawar, were once again buried and he again became holier-than-thou.

Before Ajit Pawar's joining, Prime Minister Modi had called the NCP the most corrupt political party in India with the Rs 73000 crore scam under its belt.

And a few days later, the BJP was seen hugging the members of the same corrupt party. Perhaps the BJP is worried that its tie-up with Eknath Shinde is going to hurt it electorally in the 2024 Lok Sabha election and state elections and hence was banking on the charisma of Ajit Pawar to see it through.

For the past few days, there have been reports that Ajit Pawar is unhappy with the BJP leadership for not making him the chief minister and that he could go back to Sharad Pawar.

The statement of the NCP boss just before the crucial meeting of the INDIA alliance in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1 has also baffled the opposition parties.

Nobody knows which political board game the veteran Maratha leader is playing currently.

Will it continue till 2024? Only time will tell.