Sharad Pawar-play puts Supriya Sule at NCP’s centre stage

NEW DELHI: The optics in the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha have set the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s internal dynamics straight with Supriya Sule receiving the newly-elected MLAs before the start of the first session on Wednesday, and she welcoming and hugging estranged cousin Ajit ‘Dada’ Pawar. With Ajit Dada Pawar being pushed to the fence, Supriya Sule is at the centre stage of the NCP now. She was part of all the meetings and the negotiations that her father Sharad Pawar did towards the formation of the government. She was also instrumental in pursuing Ajit Pawar back to the party fold.

After the Saturday coup, Sule immediately changed her WhatsApp status — ‘party and family split’. It now is clear that the saga of the Pawar family will rotate around Supriya Sule.

The high profile rebellion within the Pawar clan is being seen as the direct fallout of Sule’s gradual elevation in the party, first in the Rajya Sabha and then to the Lok Sabha. Until then Ajit Pawar had a free run in the NCP affairs. As the clout of Supriya has gradually increased in the party, Ajit Pawar had been upset for quite some time said an NCP insider. In the past few days, Supriya Sule was part of the hectic activity and even close Pawar aide Praful Patel was missing.

As Sharad Pawar emerges from shadows to becoming the strong Maratha, Sule will be the next heir apparent in the NCP. Pawar on Tuesday walked in amid loud cheers at hotel Trident where Uddhav Thackery was elected as the leader of the three parties.

During the negotiations, Pawar had made it clear that he was a tough bargainer, before reaching out for the deal. The path was not easy as it seems now — Pawar had pushed for a rotational Chief Minister in the state, but the Shiv Sena insisted on a full five-year term for them. (IANS)

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