Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar has written in his autobiography that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra collapsed because Uddhav Thackeray lacked political acumen and failed to address the discontent within his party, reported PTI.
On Tuesday, the Nationalist Congress Party leader launched the second edition of his autobiography Lok Maze Sangati. At the event, Pawar also announced that he will resign as the president of the party.
After the 2019 state Assembly polls in Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party had formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government along with the Congress and the Shiv Sena. Thackeray became the chief minister. However, in June, the alliance fell through as a group of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, rebelled against the party and formed a new government with support from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In his autobiography, Pawar wrote that the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition had anticipated desperate attempts to break the alliance. “The formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi was not just a power game but strong opposition to BJP’s tendency to finish off the importance of other political parties by any means,” Pawar wrote in the book, according to PTI.
He lamented that Thackeray could not prevent the split within the Shiv Sena.
“It happened due to lack of experience,” Pawar said. “In politics, one must act swiftly to protect power. When the MVA [Maha Vikas Aghadi] was about to fall, he [Thackeray] withdrew from the process in the first stage itself. It may have happened owing to his health condition.”
He added: “When Uddhav took over the reins, we were missing the openness of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. One had to take an appointment after taking into consideration his [Uddhav Thackeray] appointments with his doctors. Because of his health status, there were limitations for him.”
Sharad Pawar’s also mentioned in the book that he was shocked to learn that his nephew Ajit Pawar had taken oath along with BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in 2019, reported NDTV.
In the wake of a hung Assembly after the 2019 state elections, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis had taken oath as chief minister of Maharashtra in an early morning coup claiming to have support from Ajit Pawar and a group of NCP MLAs. Ajit Pawar had taken oath as the deputy chief minister. However, the government lasted less than 80 hours as both Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar quit ahead of a trust vote in the House. Days later, Uddhav Thackeray took oath as chief minister as leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Sharad Pawar wrote in his autobiography said that his name had been misused to take his party MLAs to the Raj Bhavan so that Ajit Pawar could take oath as Fadnavis’ deputy.
“When I made calls to a few MLAs who were at Raj Bhavan, I got to know that only 10 MLAs [from Nationalist Congress Party] have reached there and one of them told me that it is happening because I support this,” Pawar said reported NDTV. “But this was a plan for the central BJP to fail the plan of MVA [Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi]. I called Uddhav Thackeray immediately and told him that whatever Ajit has done is wrong and NCP and I don’t support that.”
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