An oft-used adage aptly defines the brand of politics mastered by the old warhorse of Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar: What he thinks, what he says, and what he does are three entirely different things. A closer look at the upheavals in the state’s politics in the last few weeks suggests that the senior Pawar’s mentee and nephew, Ajit Pawar, has definitely taken a leaf or two from his uncle’s book.
A series of events and statements that had Ajit Pawar at the center of action created ripples in the state’s political waters. The leader of the opposition in the Vidhan Sabha hogged the limelight for contradicting his party's and the MVA’s (Maha Vikas Aghadi) stance and siding with the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on a variety of issues:
A few days after the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) supremo convened a meeting of leading opposition parties to discuss concerns over the credibility of electronic voting machines (EVMs), Ajit Pawar reposed his faith in the EVM and went to the extent of calling politicians raising questions on EVMs as sore losers who could not digest electoral losses
When the opposition parties in the state and across the country including senior figures like Uddhav Thackeray were cornering the BJP over the authenticity of PM, Modi's educational degree, Ajit Pawar scoffed at the degree controversy stating that people had voted for Modi based on his personal appeal and charisma, and hence it was unfair to focus excessively on his academic qualifications
The surprising exclusion of Ajit Pawar and his spouse’s name from the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the MSC bank scam case further fuelled the rumors of him striking a deal with the BJP
Pawar senior's questions on the efficacy of a JPC probe into the Adani-Hindenburg saga made observers wonder if Ajit had his blessings for any new venture with the BJP