NEW DELHI: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is facing internal tensions after Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) president Sharad Pawar felicitated Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde at an event in Delhi. The move has not gone down well with the Shiv Sena (UBT), with senior party leader Sanjay Raut strongly criticising Pawar for honouring the man who, with the backing of the BJP and Union home minister Amit Shah, “orchestrated the split in the Shiv Sena in 2022.”
Shinde was conferred the Mahadji Shinde Rashtra Gaurav Puraskar at the 98th Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, with Pawar himself presenting the award.
Speaking at the evening, Pawar praised Eknath Shinde for his “significant contribution” to Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Mumbai.
“Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Mumbai require strong and consistent leadership to navigate their political landscape effectively. Leaders like former municipal presidents Savlaram Patil and Rangnekar played key roles, and Eknath Shinde has significantly contributed as well,” Pawar said.
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While Pawar’s party downplayed the event, calling it a literary and cultural function rather than a political one, the BJP saw it as an indirect admission by Pawar that Shinde was a better chief minister than Uddhav Thackeray.
Raut, however, saw it as an insult to the alliance. “Certain things should be avoided in politics. Yesterday, Sharad Pawar did not felicitate Shinde, but he felicitated Amit Shah. This is our feeling,” Raut told reporters in Delhi. “You are a senior politician, and we respect you. But those who split Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sena with the help of Amit Shah and weakened Maharashtra, you are honouring such people. This has hurt the sentiments of Marathi people.”
The BJP was quick to exploit the discord. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule claimed that Pawar’s gesture was an acknowledgment that Shinde was a superior chief minister to Thackeray. “Pawar has admitted that Shinde was a better CM,” he said, adding that Pawar himself had written in his autobiography that Thackeray visited the state secretariat, Mantralaya, only twice during his tenure. At the same time, Shinde worked tirelessly for 22 hours a day.
NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe dismissed Raut’s criticism, calling it a personal opinion and stressing that the event was a cultural gathering, not a political one. “He showed statesmanship, where one does not bring politics into everything,” said Kolhe.
Shinde, in his acceptance speech, showered praise on Pawar, talking about the importance of maintaining good relations across political lines. “Pawar also bowls googly deliveries that are tough to decipher. I have good relations with Pawar, but he has not bowled me a googly. I am confident that he will not bowl me a googly in the future as well,” he said, using a cricket analogy to highlight his camaraderie with the veteran leader.
Shinde also focused on Maharashtra’s progress under his leadership, crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for standing firmly behind the state. He remarked that Pawar had witnessed firsthand the developmental work undertaken in the past two and a half years. “He (Pawar) calls me often. One has to learn from Pawar how to maintain relations going beyond political lines,” Shinde said.
The episode comes at a time when both the MVA and the INDIA bloc are grappling with internal fissures, worsened by the outcome of last November’s elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and the recent elections in Delhi. The MVA suffered heavy losses due to internal “friendly fights,” which saw its partners contesting against each other in 21 seats. This division proved costly, as the MVA lost 17 of those contests.
