CAUGHT IN A MUDDLE

Ajit Pawar is yet to find his feet after joining the BJP-led alliance government in Maharashtra. His NCP faction bagged crucial portfolios, but the deputy CM is still No. 3 in the pecking order

- Dhaval Kulkarni

In late July, the Maharashtra government issued a directive that any proposals approved by deputy chief minister and finance minister Ajit Pawar must be routed to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's office for final clearance via the other deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. It cannot be easy for a man who has been used to unquestioned power.

This was just weeks after Ajit had, in a coup, split the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by his uncle and former chief minister Sharad Pawar to join the BJP-Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) government. While Ajit got the crucial finance portfolio, his acolytes also bagged plum departments like cooperation and agriculture. In a redux of Shinde's split from the Shiv Sena in June 2022, Ajit claimed to be the NCP national president replacing Pawar Sr, and staked claim to the party name and symbol at the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Four months on, Ajit is still trying to find his place in the three-party Maharashtra government. It's the first time that Maharashta has two deputy CMS, and along with the CM, there are three power centres, with Fadnavis reported to be calling the shots in the administration. Known for saying it like it is (to the point of being abrasive), sources claim coalition politics has "mellowed" Ajit dada, as he is popularly known. Two senior IAS officers confirm this, saying unlike his previous stints as deputy CM, Ajit was "milder" and Fadnavis had the greater say. Just recently, with the growing unrest over the Maratha quota agitation, Shinde and Fadnavis had air-dashed to New Delhi to discuss the issue; Ajit later claimed to be unaware of the trip. And while Shinde did most of the fire-fighting to ensure that Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil broke his fast, Ajit was missing in action (his aides claimed he was down with dengue).