Maharashtra: Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar meet to work on Amit Shah’s advice

Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent visit to Mumbai for Ganpati darshan. Pic/PTI

After a series of incidents that had widened a rift between CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's respective parties, the two senior leaders attempted rapprochement late Wednesday night. BJP's top leader Amit Shah had asked NDA constituents to ensure coordination and repair strained ties before it was too late ahead of the state polls.

People in the know said the three-hour meeting was expected to ease the tension that was very evident between Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) over many issues of governance and alliance politics. The interaction between Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar, and their respective associates at the chief minister's official residence Varsha was held in the backdrop of events that had made the cracks public.

NCP chief Ajit Pawar, NCP RS MP Praful Patel at the Ganpati puja at CM Eknath Shinde's residence. Pic/Facebook

The publicity of the women's welfare scheme 'Mukhyamantri Ladki Bahin Yojana' had taken the form of a contest between the two parties. Early this week, the Sena workers in Baramati had covered Pawar's image with a black sheet because they were upset. Elsewhere, the CM's name and images were dropped from the publicity material of NCP. The Sena workers in Thane had responded to the NCP in the same vein. Unsavoury remarks by some Shinde Sena ministers and the strong reactions they were given by the NCP, had added significantly to the unease in the BJP's alliance partners.

In fact, the NCP's entry had embarrassed Shinde Sena, because one of the reasons they had given for their rebellion was that their MLAs were denied funds by the then MVA finance minister Ajit Pawar, who was given the same charge in the Mahayuti government too.

Though no such complaints have been made in the current regime, Pawar's partnership with the NDA has emerged as a concern for Shinde Sena, especially in terms of the seat-sharing formula. Similar sentiments were expressed by the BJP workers, and the Ajit Pawar faction is also concerned about getting a fair seat share. It was in this context that Shah held meetings with his party leaders and NDA partners in Mumbai early this week, asking them to sort issues at the state level and reach out to him with unresolved matters.

It is learnt that Shinde and Pawar discussed common issues such as the standard operating procedure for 'Ladki Bahin Yojana's' publicity. They reviewed the scheme's reach to date and its public impact. Ahead of the polls, the government still has about a month to reach out to the labharthis with several welfare schemes, before a code of conduct gets effective. The pertinent issue that both Sena and NCP faced is about the constituencies where they had been facing each other till 2019. Both have won some and finished as a runner-up in some. The BJP-NCP also has the same issue that needs to be sorted out.