Sharad Pawar says 'not the remote control in MVA govt'; opens up on BJP-Sena failure

Speaking to ally Shiv Sena's mouthpiece Saamana - NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar, on Saturday explained the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, while being interviewed in a three-part interview by Saamana executive editor - Sanjay Raut. He talked about the fall of BJP due to its subduing Sena, the unlikely combination of Sena and Congress, and the success of the coalition in tackling Coronavirus - unitedly. This is the first time Saamana is interviewing a non-Thackeray politician, with previously interviewing only Balasaheb and Uddhav Thackeray.

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When asked whether the Maha Vikas Aghadi was an accident or a planned transformation, Pawar said" I don't think this (coalition) is an accident. In the Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra followed the nation's mood, but it was different in state polls. Not just in Maharashtra - in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh BJP's strong Lok Sabha performance was not replicated. In Maharashtra, people had realised that in the previous BJP-Sena government, Sena was subdued". 

Comparing to the previous Sena-BJP government led by Manohar Joshi he said it felt different as Balasaheb Thackeray had stood behind. He added," BJP's 105 seats had a major contribution by Shiv Sena. If you minus Sena from that equation, their total may have been 40-50 seats." 

Talking about the unlikely combination between Sena and Congress, he said that Balasaheb Thackeray was the first one to support Indira Gandhi during emergency, pushing over Maharashtra leaders like himself. He said, "Due to his resolve to stand behind Congress inspite of differences for the betterment of the State, his son Uddhav is following the same path". 

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Pawar on MVA's performance

When asked about the performance of the coalition in the past 6 months, he said that the 3-party government was successful as there was no politicisation between the three parties in fighting Coronavirus. Refuting to be the remote control behind the government, he said that remote controls do not work in democracies unless it was one like Putin - where one man could be President till 2036. Comparing to the previous coalition government he led in 1978, Pawar said unlike then, this Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition did not enjoy strong support from the BJP-ruled Centre.

"This coalition is successful and will benefit all parts of Maharashtra, but unfortunately we have been struck by Coronavirus. If this set up was not successful, three parties with three varying ideologies could not have backed the CM unitedly to fight Coronavirus. There is no politicisation in the pandemic between these three parties," he said.

He added, "I am neither Headmaster nor remote control of this government. If there had to be Headmaster, he must be the leader and democratic governments do not work on remote control. That will work in government like Putin's who will be President till 2036 - the power is vested in one person only. "

"The previous government - Progressive Democratic Front, I had led the coalition. All parties - be it Jan Sangh, NCP were working towards one goal - there was no difference in that. Moreover, the Centre - led by Morarji Desai, was supporting this coalition. Today, though the three-party coalition is working together inspite of varying ideologies, I don't see a strong support to this government from the Centre," he said.

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Maha Vikas Aghadi government

The BJP-Sena alliance fell out over a 50-50 power-sharing and shared CM post, leading to the Shiv Sena allying with  NCP-Congress to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on November 28, which was preceded by 4-day CM stint by Fadnavis, which fell after Ajit Pawar rescinded his support after the Supreme Court ordered an open ballot floor test in the Maharashtra Assembly immediately. Both Fadnavis and Pawar resigned, ushering in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, which has been shaky, often casting doubts of sustaining.