The NCP leader has once again caused a political kerfuffle, this time with his comments on Rafale

For those who came in late, as the Phantom used to say, there was some inspired headline-writing in Indian journalism when Congress worthies Sharad Pawar, Tariq Anwar and PA Sangma raised the banner of revolt nearly two decades ago against Sonia Gandhi on her foreign origins, which was also considered a not-so-veiled attack on the dynastic politics which ensured a reserved seat, as it were, at the very top of the party. It was termed the ‘Amar Akbar Anthony revolt’ for obvious reasons. Today, to extend the analogy, as a wag put it: Amar rahein. Which is to say, only Pawar remains. Sangma passed away a few years ago and with Anwar now quitting the Nationalist Congress Party over Pawar’s reported ‘clean chit’, since qualified by senior NCP leaders, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his intentions vis-à-vis the Rafale fighter jets deal, only the Maratha strongman remains of the founders of the party which the three rebel leaders had formed on their expulsion by the Congress.

Pawar, with connections across the political spectrum, is known to have his own mind on the issues of the day. But those leaders in the BJP/NDA camp who think his comments in an interview to a Marathi television channel amount to an endorsement of Modi politically, should think again. For, even though simpatico analysts have been quick to raise the possibility of a BJP-NCP alliance in Maharashtra for the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll especially given the ongoing war of attrition in the BJP-Shiva Sena coalition, the fact is that Pawar has cast his lot with the Opposition for now. It does not mean that he will not be open to post-poll arrangements with any formation; just that going into the General Election, the social coalition he is banking on to try and ensure the NCP tally is at least in two digits works better if he is in alliance with the Congress and smaller parties including possibly Raj Thackeray’s MNS. Pawar is also busy trying to, rather ironically, sort out political legacy issues within his family — daughter Supriya Sule has been earmarked for a national role, nephew Ajit Pawar is to have sway over the State while close aides such as Praful Patel are expected to help maintain this balance. By the time the next Maharashtra Assembly poll due in a little over a year comes around, however, and depending on how the major players have performed in the Lok Sabha election, all options will certainly open up in terms of electoral pacts for the NCP. In the interim, Pawar’s point about the Indian electorate’s perception being that Modi’s intentions are not suspect in the Rafale deal should be seen as more of a signal to the Congress president that his hyper-aggressive campaign on the issue may be misplaced.