Brinkmanship in Maha, or more?

If the resignation letter of Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar (NCP leader and nephew of party boss Sharad Pawar) on Tuesday surprised almost everybody, its timing too was perplexing. Allegations of a Rs 70,000-crore irrigation scam in his tenure as state irrigation minister had been in the news over a year.

Some months ago it figured in the state Assembly and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan promised a white paper. Yet the deputy CM stayed put then, but has suddenly chosen to dash off his resignation now. Whether it will be accepted is anybody’s guess. That could depend on higher-level consultations between the Congress and the NCP, the two UPA partners who run the government together in Maharashtra and are in the ruling coalition at the Centre.
The younger Pawar’s resignation has suddenly brought political pressure on UPA-2 in New Delhi at a time when the atmosphere appeared to be calming after the Trinamul Congress’ withdrawal from UPA-2 last week. Other NCP ministers in Maharashtra have also sent their resignations to their state party chief to express solidarity with Mr Ajit Pawar. A perfectly valid explanation is that they are acting in tandem with him, and taking Mr Sharad Pawar by surprise. This is apparently why the senior Pawar’s tone was sharp when he spoke to the media in Kolkata on Wednesday soon after word of multiple resignation letters got around. The Union agriculture minister asserted that the state government was stable and that no one would actually resign. The Centre would also not be rocked by the Maharashtra developments, he indicated.
It cannot be ruled out that this move is a carefully planned charade intended to humiliate the chief minister with the express purpose of dislodging him from Maharashtra. Before he became CM, Mr Chavan did not favour a Congress-NCP alliance in the state. As such, his promise of a white paper may have been meant to make the NCP squirm. In the event the latter has played hardball and put him on the defensive. If true, none of this reflects well on those heading the ruling alliance in Maharashtra. Brinkmanship on such a scale can potentially bring down the government. Such a denouement will no doubt gladden the hearts of the Opposition Shiv Sena and BJP.
It is also feasible what we are witnessing is part of inner turmoil within the NCP, with Ajit Pawar’s ambitions clashing with that of his cousin, Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule, a Lok Sabha member, in the inheritance stakes for the political legacy. This by no means lessens the seriousness of the development as far as the government’s stability is concerned. It is time for top Congress and NCP leaders to step in.