Is Sharad Pawar keeping himself out of Mamata Banerjee's united Opposition initiative

The question that is doing the rounds is whether Pawar consciously keeping away from the united opposition initiative and thus not meeting Mamata Banerjee. Is he trying not to agitate the BJP after his meeting with Narendra Modi where he got some hints that he is in the race for the next President of India?

Kolkata:West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is already in New Delhi. From the virtual dais of the Trinamool Congress Martyrs’ Day programme on July 21, she clearly said that the main purpose of her visit to New Delhi is to ensure a large anti-BJP opposition unity in the backdrop of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. She also urged NCP chief Sharad Pawar to play an active role in forging this larger opposition unity.

But where is Sharad Pawar and where will he be during the chief minister’s four-day New Delhi visit? He was supposed to have a meeting with Mamata Banerjee at his residence at 6 Janpath Road in Delhi during the chief minister’s visit to the national capital. However, the veteran politician from Maharashtra is currently not in New Delhi and chances of his presence in the national capital during the next couple of days are also quite bleak.

Questions are also being raised whether Pawar has decided to keep himself away from this larger opposition unity initiative following his recent meeting with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. If that is not the case then he chose to remain absent from the national capital during this crucial moment.

According to NCP sources, Pawar is currently in Mumbai. He is supposed to brief media persons on the flood situation in Maharashtra on Tuesday. Officially, NCP sources said that at a time when Maharashtra was reeling under severe flood, then as a politician from that state Pawar had no other option but to move to Mumbai.

Although Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule and Praful Patel are in New Delhi, there is no confirmation as of yet that the two will hold meetings with Mamata Banerjee on behalf of Pawar. So naturally, Pawar’s role is in question. However, another section feels that although Pawar’s absence in New Delhi during the crucial time raises some questions, it will be too early to deduct anything final about his strategy right at this moment.

Following Pawar’s meeting with vote strategist Prashant Kishore recently, as well as his meeting with different political parties, it was assumed that the NCP chief will play a definite role in uniting the opposition forces against BJP. However, his absence from the national capital at this juncture has dampened that expectation to some extent.

Now the question that is doing the rounds is whether Pawar is consciously keeping away from the united opposition initiative and thus not meeting Mamata Banerjee. Is he trying not to agitate the BJP after his meeting with Narendra Modi where he got some hints that he is in the race for the next Indian president? That question has also been raised.

Now the main question is how far the united opposition initiative will be affected by the current stand of Sharad Pawar.