Maha Versus Bharat

Can Shiv Sena and NCP's region-centric politics survive against the BJP's all-sweeping nationalistic style?

- Shweta Desai

WITH elections around the corner, Maharashtra’s seasoned, octogenarian warhorse, Sharad Pawar, doesn’t hold back. In Satara, his speech was muffled on account of the facial deformation that he has sustained in his ongoing battle with cancer. But his words packed a punch. “Be it 84 or 90 years, this old man will not stop,” he declared, setting off roars from the crowd. Pawar promised that he would not rest until he brings Maharashtra on the “right track”.

For those who’d dared to write him off, the message was clear, with a hint of defiance that he would not relent until the BJP is defeated. As part of the Maharashtra’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, which includes the Congress and the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Sharad Pawar) has taken on the lead role in the Opposition’s plot to oust the BJP from power. And the spotlight is now on Pawar.

For Pawar and Thackeray, the upcoming election for Maharashtra’s 288-member legislative assembly is a personal battle. The polls mark a pivotal moment for their political survival as regional parties risk becoming marginalised players against a formidable BJP, say political experts.

“It’s an existential battle for the NCP and the Sena to assert their identity and reinforce regional politics against the BJP’s unipolar nationalist brand of politics,” says Girish Kuber, senior journalist and editor of Marathi daily Loksatta.

The NCP split into two factions last year when Pawar’s nephew, senior leader Ajit Pawar, left the party with a majority of MLAs to join the ruling BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena coalition government. This breakup left Sharad Pawar with just 14 MLAs. Party leaders claimed the move was engineered to end Pawar’s political career and undermine the NCP’s regional influence. Pawar also faced sharp criticism from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who mocked him as a bhatakti aatma (wandering spirit) and suggested he join the BJP.