Who will conquer Ajit Pawar, the undefeated?

Three years after forming a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party that lasted 72 hours Nationalist Congress Partyrsquos Ajit Pawar is back in the limelight All eyes are on the former deputy chief minister amid speculations of him exiting the party with a sizable number of MLAs to join hands with the BJP once againThere have been talks in the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA too about possible defections Calling out the BJP for trying to split the NCP just like it did the Shiv Sena UBT Senarsquos mouthpiece Saamana said NCP boss Sharad Pawar had told Uddhav Thackeray that nobody in his party wanted to join the rivals willingly but their families were being targeted by the central probe agencies If anyone joins the BJP then it would be a personal decision and not of the party the editorial added This has given credence to talks that all is not well in the NCPRecently Sharad Pawar showcased his love for a corporate house that faces the Oppositionrsquos wrath but when he tried to salvage his position by trying to power the efforts to unite the Opposition against the BJP his own house came in the eye of the storm A split NCP would change the face of Maharashtra politics which was already altered last June owing to a divided Sena The possibility of the NCP becoming weak can bring the Savarkar controversymired Congress and Shiv Sena UBT even closer in the state Also Read Congress reaches out to Uddhav ThackerayUnion Home Minister Amit Shahrsquos visit to Mumbai last weekend gave further push to speculations Ajit Pawar promptly denied meeting the BJP high command in Mumbai on Saturday or elsewhere last week on a day he was reported to be out of reachOn Sunday he was in Nagpur for an MVA rally but said he would not speak because an agreement of the coalition allowed only two from each party to speak at joint public gatherings From the NCP party state president Jayant Patil and leader from Nagpur Anil Deshmukh had been picked Ajit added Interestingly after the first MVA rally in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar formerly Aurangabad Ajit Pawar was asked about going soft on BJP leaders including Devendra Fadnavis and in response he had said that if given an opportunity to speak in Nagpur he would definitely attack Fadnavis and othersAbout the shift if anyMost political parties and legal experts say the government will not collapse by virtue of the Supreme Court verdict They are of the opinion that since the SC had questioned a prayer for reinstatement of the government that went out because the CM Uddhav Thackeray resigned without facing a trust vote the BJPShinde Sena governmentrsquos protection was guaranteed So does the BJP really need Ajit Pawar and his men the number that gives protection under the defection law right away or when Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 15 other MLAs are disqualified but do not impact the governmentrsquos majority in the House The situation will arise only after it becomes clear who decides disqualificationmdashthe Supreme Court or the speaker If the matter goes to the Speaker it would stretch until the government is in a position to face the next elections under the ShindeFadnavis duo Even if disqualification happens it would only reduce the total strength of the Vidhan Sabha while allowing the BJPShinde Sena a majority Things may alter if the rest of the qualified colleagues of Shinde who will not be a CM then because of disqualification chart their own course And in case of a change of guard due to Shindersquos exit the BJP will not go without planning for the futureWill Ajit Pawar and his men come into the picture thenBut why would the BJP make yet another outsider a CM when the previous one had been a cause of upset within its rank and file which wanted Fadnavis at the helm A consensus could be reached if Ajit Pawar formally joins the BJP with his trusted men ahead of the polls and helps his new party gain a good number in the Lok Sabha and a magic number in the Vidhan Sabha fighting against his own and those in the MVA Hypothesis ifs and buts notwithstanding Ajit Pawar is a big catch if netted His uncle forced him out from the BJP government in 2019 purportedly against his wishes because the former deputy CM has repeatedly said ldquohe is a person who keeps the wordrdquo It will be interesting to see whether the uncle blesses the nephewrsquos exit or uses options at his disposal to stop him from switching over to the BJP once againDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajoreSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom