Uddhav Resigned Without Putting Up A Fight Against Shinde, Writes Sharad Pawar In His Autobiography

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar has said that Uddhav Thackeray failed to quell the discontent within his own party and resigned as Maharashtra chief minister without putting up a fight. He and others also sensed a lack of political deftness in Thackeray, something which a chief minister needs, Pawar said in the revised version of his autobiography, released on Tuesday.

The formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) of the Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena was not just a "power game" but a strong riposte to the Bharatiya Janata Party's tendency to finish off the importance of other political parties by hook or by crook, Pawar wrote in the book.

It was expected that there would be attempts to destabilize the MVA government, but "we did not anticipate that there would be a storm within the Shiv Sena due to Uddhav Thackeray becoming chief minister," he said.

"The Sena leadership fell short in quelling this outburst of discontent," the veteran politician wrote.

"As Uddhav resigned without putting up a fight (after Eknath Shinde and other Sena MLAs rebelled against him in June 2022), the MVA's stint in power came to an end," he further said.

Noting that Thackeray's health became a constraint for him, the NCP leader noted that a chief minister needs "political acumen" and must remain well-informed about political goings-on, and "we all felt that these things were lacking."

He attributed it to Thackeray's inexperience.

While the middle class liked Thackeray's interaction with the people through Facebook Live during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was difficult to fathom why he chose to visit the Mantralaya, the government's headquarters, only twice during this period, Pawar wrote.

Pawar's revised Marathi autobiography `Lok Maze Sangati' (People Accompany Me) touches upon events post 2015 when the first edition of the book was published.

Ajit's revolt was not restricted to NCP, it was family affair: Sharad Pawar

Ajit Pawar's rebellion when he briefly joined hands with the BJP in 2019 did not concern only party discipline but it was also a family affair, NCP leader Sharad Pawar has said, disclosing his wife Pratibha's role in bringing their nephew back into the party fold. In the updated version of his Marathi autobiography 'Lok Majhe Sangati' (People Accompany Me), Pawar said when Ajit Pawar rebelled, party leaders kept in touch with him continuously.

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar formed a short-lived government when the Pawar senior was busy cobbling together an alliance with the Shiv Sena and Congress in November 2019.

"Ajit's brother Shriniwas was asked to maintain dialogue with him... My wife Pratibha and Ajit share a strong bond. Pratibha never gets into political developments, but Ajit's case was related to the family," Pawar said in his book.

After meeting Pratibha Pawar, Ajit expressed regret and admitted that whatever happened was wrong and should not have happened, and "this was enough for us and this brought curtains downs on the whole episode,? the veteran politician said.

Ajit Pawar later became deputy chief minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government and is now the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.

His decision to make Ajit deputy chief minister stood vindicated by the latter's work during the coronavirus pandemic, Pawar wrote.