It was Pawar who dropped a bombshell by revealing that Uddhav and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who is the executive editor of the party mouthpiece Saamna, had met him last week at his south Mumbai residence, Silver Oaks, in Mumbai.
By meeting BJP's bugbear and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and now NCP chief Sharad Pawar, is Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray trying to form an armada of regional fronts to take on the BJP? Or is it another attempt to pressurize its senior ally?
It was Pawar who dropped a bombshell by revealing that Uddhav and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, who is the executive editor of the party mouthpiece Saamna, had met him last week at his south Mumbai residence, Silver Oaks, in Mumbai.
"I felt that they are not satisfied (with the partnership), but they did not directly say that they would withdraw support," said Pawar after the party's conclave at Karjat. Pawar clarified that the NCP was "not available" to help anyone in this process but was ready to hold discussions with "like-minded parties".
Though Shiv Sena leaders remain tight-lipped on the issue, sources admitted that the party would not go the whole hog with the Devendra Fadnavis-led government in Maharashtra. In contrast, senior BJP leaders claim that their government is safe.
The Sena grapevine is abuzz with reports that the leadership may choose to pull out of the government.
However, much hinges on the results of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, which is seen as the BJP's laboratory of Hindutva. A senior Shiv Sena leader admitted they may take a call if the BJP was defeated or elected with a slimmer margin in Gujarat.
"The Shiv Sena has the flexibility to partner with anyone in politics," hinted a source, pointing to how the party has allied with Socialists, Republican Party of India and even the Congress in a complex trapeze act.
Hence, this dalliance with Mamata and Pawar may be part of a larger attempt to forge an anti- BJP front of regional groups. Raut had also praised Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi recently. "Though we are in power, it has meant little for the elected representatives or cadre. We have been unable to make a mark on governance," the source explained.
While the Shiv Sena had the upper hand over BJP in the saffron alliance from 1989 to 2014, it has been unable to come to terms with its new role as a junior ally. That BJP leadership's has moved to induct its bete noir and former Shiv Sainik Narayan Rane in the cabinet has also riled the party.
The Sena is balancing on the contradictory stools of being in power and acting out the role of the Opposition, attacking the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range of issues. However, its legislators are divided on the issue of party pulling out of the government. The BJP is trying to tap disgruntled elements within the Sena, which it views as a hindrance to its expansion in Maharashtra due to an overlapping ideological base.
A former Sena MLA said while the public mood was gradually turning against the BJP, no party was in a position to call mid-term polls. He claimed that the Uddhav-Pawar meeting could be a strategy to pressurize the BJP.
Incidentally, the NCP is seen as being eager to get into BJP's good books.
NCP leaders claim that Uddhav had discussed the possibility of the Sena withdrawing support to the BJP regime and forming another government with Congress and NCP support. "Pawar said he cannot commit anything at this moment and Sena would first make it's stand clear," said sources close to Pawar.
"Initially, we had extended unconditional support to the BJP as we did not want snap polls. Now, things are clearer and this is an anti-farmer's government. We are also ready for mid-term polls," said a senior NCP leader.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Sharad Pawar")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}