Congress delay allowed BJP surgical strike?

MUMBAI: With BJP’s “surgical strike” on the chief minister’s post, many are questioning whether Congress’s delay in giving a green signal to the Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP coalition gave BJP time to pull off a coup. Others, though, say the revolt in NCP was brewing and would have erupted anyway before the coalition could stake power. The corruption cases against Ajit Pawar acted as a catalyst, they say.


“Had our government been in place and ministers sworn in, it would have been difficult for Ajit Pawar to try and wean MLAs away,” said a NCP leader. Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s reluctance to break bread with Sena given that its hardline

Hindutva

views run contradictory to Congress’s secular values is believed to have held up talks. She was concerned about the impact of such a coalition on the party in other states. She was finally persuaded to change her mind by the position taken by state MLAs.

The talks formally began first between Congress and NCP and later with Sena. The focus was on drafting a common minimum programme, with contentious issues like Sena’s demand for a

Bharat Ratna

for Savarkar being addressed. “Sonia wanted all the issues resolved before formally agreeing to the alliance to avoid conflicts later. This included the CMP and the splitting of all posts and porfolios,” said a Congress leader.

It was only by November 20 that Congress agreed to be part of the alliance. Ironing out the portfolios took another two days. Congress’s insistence on the Speaker’s post remained an issue. By November 22, though, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had announced that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray would be the chief minister .

After Saturday’s developments, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel denied the Congress had dragged its feet. “This is baseless. Sena’s proposal came to us on November 11 and we came to Mumbai the very next day. All our meetings were on schedule. Finalising coalitions take time.” Referring to BJP taking the CM’s post, Patel said, “The reason this has happened is not due to delays by Congress but because some people left NCP.” Sharad Pawar also said there was a delay in talks but it was not the reason for what happened today.

Ajit Pawar’s unhappiness at being sidelined in favour of Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule is no secret. Cases against him also played a part in his decision, say NCP leaders. “Congress cannot be blamed for delays. Ajit Pawar’s Plan B must have been ready for a while and he would have acted before the Sena-NCP-Congress coalition staked claim,” said political analyst Abhay Deshpande.

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