‘Regional parties coming closer to Congress’: Why Sharad Pawar said what he did

Sharad Pawar believes the Congress is on the upswing — whether or not it forms the government this time.

This was the upshot of the interview he gave to The Indian Express earlier this week — that given the way things were going, the regional parties will tie up more closely with the Congress in the coming months, and some of them may decide to merge in the grand old party. He suggested that one of the parties could be his own NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Pawar’s words about the future shape of politics — he is a leader with half-a-century of love-hate relationship with the Congress, including time as a member the party — have come right in the midst of the 2024 general elections. The conversation took place at his hotel room after he had returned from addressing a meeting in Satara in western Maharashtra, along with leaders of his allies Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Aam Aadmi Party.

Looking ahead at the post-poll possibilities — he said it had become “difficult to adjust (with) and digest (Narendra) Modi” — his words were as much about the future of the Congress as about the prospects of his own party. The NCP split in 2023, with his nephew Ajit Pawar taking away a major chunk of the party’s MLAs and MPs, plus its election symbol, leaving Pawar with only a handful of leaders.

While he continues to show the stomach for it, an 83-year-old Pawar is fighting with his back to the wall to retain his NCP faction’s — and his daughter Supriya Sule’s — political relevance. Clearly, he sees Sule’s future as more secure with the Congress than with the BJP.

While in the past too there have been back-channel explorations about an NCP merger with the Congress, Pawar has so far been ambiguous. The Congress too views him with wariness, given