Sharad Pawar Reveals His "Calculated Move To Expose BJP's Hunger For Power" After 2019 Maharashtra Polls

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar acknowledged on Thursday (29 June) that his party had engaged in discussions with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following the 2019 assembly elections in Maharashtra.

Pawar explained that this strategic move was akin to a "googly" to expose the BJP's eagerness for power and their willingness to form alliances with anyone to gain control in the state.

He stated, "In 2014, the NCP openly offered external support to the BJP in order to create divisions among the alliance partners of the NDA in the state. Subsequent meetings took place with the BJP after the 2019 assembly elections."

Pawar said that while BJP leaders claim that he changed his mind just days before the swearing-in ceremony of Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, "it was a calculated move to demonstrate that the BJP would resort to any means to retain power, whereas the NCP does not actively pursue power."

It should be noted that the NCP's attempt to create a divide within the NDA did not achieve the desired outcome in 2014, as the Shiv Sena accepted the BJP's claim to the chief minister's post as the largest party in the alliance.

However, in 2019, the dispute over the chief ministerial post resulted in Shiv Sena forming the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with the Congress and the NCP.

The BJP had earlier tried forming the government with the support of Ajit Pawar but the NCP did not extend its support leading to a lack of majority.

However, the MVA government too collapsed eventually, leading to the formation of a new government last year with Shiv Sena's Eknath Shinde as the CM and Fadnavis serving as the deputy CM.