Pawar play leaves Cong groping in the dark

MUMBAI: What exactly is Sharad Pawar up to these days? After joining hands with the Shiv Sena and the BJP in Maharashtra to scuttle Congress’ Rajya Sabha plans, political circles are all agog about the Maratha strongman’s next move in Delhi.

Many believe the old war horse is leaving nothing to chances to be a rallying point for anti-Congress forces. The Congress, in turn, seems to be completely clueless as to how to negotiate such a political maze.

Speaking to ET, a highly-placed Congressman at the Centre admitted that recent fissures between the ruling party and its partners presented an “ominous sign”. “Pawar saab never opens his cards till he has a proper plan in place,” he said.

The most recent example being that of Rahul Bajaj. “Till the other day, we had a commitment from the NCP about the Rajya Sabha election. He waited till we announced our candidate, and then fielded Mr Bajaj,” he said. The Congress had no option but to face a humiliating defeat.

“By doing this, he set a cat amongst the pigeons,” said a Congress leader from Maharashtra. Mr Pawar was touring abroad even as his party and the Congress were at loggerheads over the election issue. The fallout: There were no efforts to resolve the crisis. “There is no political crisis management though we can foresee his efforts to bring all anti-Congress parties together,” the Congress functionaries chorused.

Except the DMK, almost every other party in the UPA has an axe to grind. The Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress equations can get worse, with elections in Uttar Pradesh approaching. And the flashpoint could be closer than expected. At the other end of the political spectrum, pressure from the Left is mounting by the day.

Rising commodity prices could be the issue that can spark a charge. However, within the NCP, no one has any idea about the political build-up against the Congress. “We are not in the loop,” a state-level NCP leader said when asked to comment on Mr Pawar’s likely plan.

State leaders, however, have been keeping the Congress on a tight leash. NCP president Arun Gujrathi, deputy CM RR Patil have all along been busy venting spleen against the Congress and preparing for a likely showdown.