Late-Night Meet At D Fadnavis' Home Fuels Pawar Camps Realignment Buzz

Six months ago Nationalist Congress Party chief Ajit Pawar died. His chartered plane crashed while landing at an airstrip in Baramati, the family's political and financial fortress.

The immediate impact of Pawar's death - the inevitable leadership wrangle - was deftly managed by promoting his wife, Sunetra Pawar, as the party leader and to his position as deputy chief minister.

And quiet seemed to prevail in the political landscape of the state. But quiet it has not been behind the scenes.

The optics behind her accession having faded, there are now murmurs of discontent within the party, with at least one senior leader openly challenging her position as NCP boss. National Secretary Sachchidanand Singh has questioned the process that elected her as party chief. The process has been called "illegal, non-existent, and void".

Across the divide too there is uncertainty.

The future of the 'original' NCP - the one founded and led by Sharad Pawar for 24 years - is increasingly unclear, particularly after sources told NDTV the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, with which the Ajit Pawar faction is allied, is keen on securing support from Sharad Pawar camp MPs to push through key bills in this parliament session. And, of course, with that comes the threat of a second rebellion - as with the Shiv Sena last month, in which six MPs jumped sides.

Against that backdrop, NCP leaders from either side of the Pawar family divide holding a late-night meeting at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' home has raised eyebrows.

The meeting lasted for over an hour.

The Ajit Pawar faction was first on the scene with Praful Patel and Sunil Tatkare. Then Sharad Pawar camp leader Jayant Patil turned up. The timing - factions meeting amid uncertainty over their respective parties' future - was significant, not least because in the aftermath of Ajit Pawar's death there was talk of a family reunion, a realignment of the squabbling NCP groups.

What that realignment could mean for Maharashtra politics is quite the question.

NCP founder Sharad Pawar (R) with his late nephew-turned-rival Ajit Pawar (File)

If the Ajit Pawar camp retains control, it could claim a greater share of power in the government, a big opportunity for a party that has played third fiddle in the ruling Mahayuti alliance thus far.

But if the Sharad Pawar camp prevails, it would weaken that alliance, offsetting some of the loss in numbers and momentum to the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi from the Sena 2.0 split.

On paper, the meeting was "regarding the disqualification issue of the Islampur municipality president". At least, that was what Jayant Patil - whose party held that post - told reporters. "I was there for not more than 15 minutes…" he declared.

Others from his side of the fence have insisted it was a "routine" meeting with Fadnavis, though it hasn't escaped notice that Jayant Patil also met BJP General Secretary Vinod Tawde last week, fuelling talk of a split.

That buzz gains credence when married to whispers that Patil has held one-on-one meetings with Sharad Pawar camp lawmakers about their willingness to follow 'dada' into the saffron party's fold.

But many within the Ajit Pawar group saw this differently, perhaps less opaquely. One former lawmaker, who declined to be named, told NDTV: "Three senior leaders from two rival factions meeting the chief minister at night cannot be coincidence."

Was it coincidence? Time will tell.

For now Sharad Pawar camp leader Supriya Sule has rubbished talk of allying with the BJP. "There are several rumours... our party has not given a statement so all such information is source-driven. Our party is being maligned... there is no question of us going.  We are in the INDIA bloc (the anti-BJP alliance led by the Congress) and haven't gotten any proposal from anyone."

On the Patil-Fadnavis meet, she said: "I had lunch with (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath... I also met (Samajwadi Party leaders) Dimple Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav. If someone meets another person, it doesn't mean anything."