Sharad Pawar and Nitin Gadkari are two sides of the same problem for BJP

Nine years in power at the Centre, Sharad Pawar and Nitin Gadkari continue to be a problem for the BJP’s central leadership

Despite all experiments, Maharashtra remains the problem state for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Two leaders in their peculiar ways are adding to the Maharashtra riddle:  Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Nitin Gadkari of the BJP — who is hailed as among the most (if not the most) competent minister in the Modi dispensation.

The problem for both Modi and the BJP is that they have so far failed to control Pawar in the Opposition space and Gadkari in the ruling dispensation. Despite splitting the NCP and weakening the Congress-Shiv Sena-NCP Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), Pawar remains combative.

Gadkari remains unfazed despite consistent attempts to marginalise him. The Union minister is perceived as a possible rallying point if the chips are down for the powers that be in the BJP. ‘He that is down need fear no fall’, looks like his unconcerned attitude, which could be further annoying the BJP central leadership.

Gadkari’s candid comments, on August 18, about the “incoming” in the BJP growing sharply under Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah much to the detriment of the original party workers, was the latest instance of ‘all is not well’ in the ruling party.

As is his wont, Gadkari made the comments in a lighter vein, but the message was unmistakable. To grow its footprint feverishly under their watch, the Modi-Shah duo has brought in people into the BJP from other parties in droves much against the interests and wishes of the ordinary BJP worker toiling hard for decades.

Last week, there were reports, claiming that Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis could be shifted to New Delhi by making him the BJP candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Nagpur, a seat Gadkari has been representing for two terms now.

While it is difficult to ascertain the veracity of political rumours, it reinforces the view that there is an increasing gap between Modi-Shah and Gadkari. Sometime back, there were reports that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was not happy with Gadkari. The RSS, which once gave the impression that Gadkari is the leader closest to it, did not formally confirm or deny it. This silence raises a different set of questions about the RSS’ current position on such developments in the BJP.

In 2012, allegedly bowing to the wishes of the RSS, the BJP amended its constitution enabling the party president, state and district unit chiefs to get a second term, paving the way for Gadkari to seek another term for the top post. In 2009, when the BJP lost the general elections for a second time, the RSS backed Gadkari, who improved the party’s prospects, and style of functioning.

Over a year back, the ‘RSS is not happy with Gadkari’ theory was floated soon after the Union minister was removed along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan from the powerful BJP Central Parliamentary Board in what was said to be an exercise in line with social engineering. Gadkari has been losing key portfolios since 2004. He has so far been relieved of shipping and MSME ministries to give the signal that no one is indispensable under Modi. 

The BJP speaks in different ways about the importance (or otherwise) of a leader. Last year, the Maharashtra BJP had given a full-page advertisement that had also appeared in the Delhi edition of a Marathi newspaper. It had photos or sketches of the who’s who of Maharashtra BJP. Strangely, it did not include Gadkari. So, there is a method to the madness.

Soon after the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections, Gadkari was the tallest leader of the party in the state. Everyone thought that he would be the natural choice for chief ministership. What happened was that young Fadnavis, who did not have any ministerial experience, was given the post. The message was clear: Gadkari, who was the opposition leader in the legislative council in the first half of the noughties, could never have been a yes man and, therefore, was not found suitable.

At that time, Eknath Khadse was another prominent BJP leader in the state, senior to Fadnavis. He too was overlooked. Khadse was later humiliated by Fadnavis, prompting him to leave the party, and join the NCP.

Since not getting chief ministership, Gadkari’s refrain has been that he was not interested in Maharashtra, and he would work at the Centre. But still, Gadkari is said to be consistently losing weight in the Delhi scheme of things. 

The tabling of CAG reports in the just concluded Parliament session is seen by many as an  attempt by Modi to defame and frame Gadkari through their findings.

With the spotlight turning on Gadkari and Pawar in the months ahead, politics is set to be more exciting. The zing is back ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

(Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari are senior journalists.)

(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.)