THE MYSTERY TORCH-BEARER OF OPPOSITION UNITY

The developments in Maharashtra will make it difficult for Sharad Pawar to focus on larger battles to save the nation when the ground beneath his feet has somewhat slipped

- SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU

A lot has transpired after the June 23 Opposition meeting in Patna. First and foremost, the new Opposition front has had to reschedule its next meeting date. It was to be held on July 13-14 in Bengaluru, but on Monday it was postponed to July 17-18.

Unlike the introductory meet-and-greet session in Patna, it appears that Opposition leaders have kept aside two full days in the tech city to thrash out an array of complex political and electoral issues that confronts them. But after the Sunday siesta-hour developments vis-à-vis the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, a certain gloom has checkered their certitude and enthusiasm.

Interestingly, it was Sharad Pawar who had first announced the July 13-14 dates and venue of the second Opposition meeting, only a couple of days before his party plunged into a crisis. The original plan was to have the meeting in Shimla and Mallikarjun Kharge was to preside over it, but the change was communicated by Pawar. One wondered why Pawar had made the announcement when ideally it should have been Kharge. But one read it as Pawar's fine game of upmanship and usurpation. It is now clear that Pawar was only trying to look busy while clearing up in advance his position with regard to the impending split in his party.

The new set of dates were communicated by the Congress' KC Venugopal on Monday with a reassurance of "unwavering resolve to defeat the fascist and undemocratic forces". That assertion captured the drift.