Who, where, how, when: A 2019 Maharashtra meeting that won’t end

Not that it hasn’t happened before, since what happened astatine the gathering shook up aged partnerships, forged immoderate caller ones, and broke isolated parties that held loyalty till past to 1 ultimate leader.

So present are the galore versions, truthful far, of what transpired erstwhile the rivals-with-benefits BJP and NCP met – barring the mentation of the Adani Group, which declined to comment:

Ajit Pawar

In an interrogation with The News Minute-Newslaundry, the NCP main and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister who continues to combat disconnected accusations of betraying his uncle and mentor Sharad Pawar, not conscionable present but besides successful 2019, reiterated that the gathering 5 years agone happened precise overmuch with Pawar Senior’s go-ahead.

Ajit was asked wherefore helium had switched implicit to the BJP pursuing the 2019 Assembly polls, had a arguable early-morning swearing-in, formed a authorities lasting hardly 80 hours successful which helium was Deputy Chief Minister, lone to instrumentality to the fold of Sharad Pawar. Ajit said: “I was conscionable obeying my person (Sharad Pawar). Everyone knows wherever the gathering took place… Everyone was there. Let maine archer you again. Amit Shah was there, Gautam Adani was there, Praful Patel was there, Devendra Fadnavis was there, Ajit Pawar was there, Pawar Saheb (Sharad Pawar) was there.”

Asked wherefore Sharad Pawar did not transverse over, portion helium did aft the meeting, Ajit said: “Pawar saheb is simply a person astir whom nary 1 successful the satellite knows what helium has successful mind. Neither Aunty (Pawar senior’s wife) nor (his daughter) Supriya Sule tin tell.”

As the Opposition seized connected the remarks arsenic impervious of their allegations regarding Adani’s power successful the Modi-led BJP, Ajit backtracked successful an interrogation with The Indian Express. Asked whether helium stood by his remarks that apical NCP and BJP leaders, on with Adani, discussed options of authorities enactment aft the 2019 results, Ajit said: “No specified happening happened. He (Gautam Adani) was not there. One of the meetings was astatine his impermanent house. Those meetings were held astatine antithetic places, and for 1 of the meetings, we met determination (at the impermanent house).”

In a consequent interrogation with ANI, Ajit said: “I said that helium (Adani) was not there. The impermanent location was his. These meetings hap successful antithetic places, similar hotels and impermanent houses. We were successful Adani’s impermanent house. There is nary relation of manufacture successful the enactment of the authorities of a state. We enactment precise engaged sometimes. I gave 2 interviews, present determination is the third, the fourth. Then I person to spell to 5 meetings too. Maybe I said thing by mistake. I americium human; humans bash perpetrate mistakes.”

Asked whether helium had been pressured to alteration his earlier statement, helium said, “Ask successful Maharashtra if Ajit Pawar bows to anyone nether pressure. I ne'er travel nether unit from anyone.”

In 1 of his Maharashtra run rallies, elder Congress person Rahul Gandhi, who has led the complaint against the BJP authorities implicit the Adani issue, said: “Their person has said that Adani ji was contiguous successful the meeting… Why was Adani sitting successful a governmental meeting? Because helium wants Dharavi. This authorities has facilitated Rs 1 lakh crore nett to Adani.”

Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi posted connected X, “As per an interrogation fixed to a integer level by a elder curate successful the Cabinet, Gautam Adani has sat done successful meetings to determine however to get BJP to powerfulness successful Maharashtra by trying to hole improbable alliances. It raises immoderate superior questions: Is helium a BJP authorised negotiator? Has helium been fixed the work to hole alliances? Why is simply a businessman truthful keenly and intimately moving to bring BJP to powerfulness astatine immoderate outgo successful Maharashtra?”

Sharad Pawar

It was the veteran’s crook to explicate Adani and the gathering next. In an interrogation to The News Minute-Newslaundry, the NCP(SP) main said that the gathering betwixt NCP and BJP leaders did instrumentality place, but astatine the industrialist’s location successful Delhi. And that, portion Adani was not a portion of it, aboriginal helium hosted a meal for each of them.

Asked wherefore helium had met BJP leaders – the NCP and BJP had fought the Assembly elections arsenic rivals – Pawar said that his enactment colleagues facing cases told him that the Centre would retreat the aforesaid if the past undivided NCP supported the BJP to signifier a authorities successful Maharashtra. He added that helium was not convinced that the BJP would support its word, but his colleagues asked him to be a gathering and “hear it consecutive from the horse’s mouth”. This is how, helium said, helium attended the gathering astatine Adani’s spot successful the nationalist capital.

Pawar described his gathering with BJP leaders arsenic a strategical “googly” to exposure the BJP’s “hunger for power” and their willingness to “align with anyone” to summation power successful the state.

Incidentally, Pawar’s girl Sule has said she didn’t cognize of immoderate specified gathering betwixt BJP and NCP leaders. “Let maine beryllium precise wide that I person perfectly nary cognition of immoderate specified gathering of the attendees which helium (Ajit) has mentioned successful the interview,” she said.

Devendra Fadnavis

In an interrogation to The Hindu, the elder BJP person and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis chipped successful next, admitting that specified a gathering had taken spot successful Delhi, but not astatine Adani’s residence.

According to Fadnavis, the gathering – attended by Amit Shah, Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel and himself – took spot aft the caput of the past agreed Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray, fell retired with the BJP. And that the gathering was called by Sharad Pawar, who phoned him up, saying they could research joining hands successful the discourse of the caller situation.

Fadnavis besides claimed that Pawar was each for the imposition of President’s Rule truthful that helium could run successful the authorities for the request of a unchangeable government, and adjacent portfolio distributions were discussed.

Sharad Pawar, circa December 2021

With the NCP inactive agreed nether him and Ajit a loyal lieutenant, Sharad Pawar said past that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was keen connected an NCP-BJP confederation authorities successful Maharashtra aft the 2019 Assembly polls.

Speaking astatine the merchandise of a java array book, “Ashtavadhani”, launched by The Indian Express Group’s ‘Loksatta’ Marathi daily, Pawar said helium met the PM connected November 20, 2019. “There was a treatment astir an alliance… I told the PM close successful his bureau that it was not possible… that I did not privation to support them successful the dark.”

The NCP nationalist spokesperson astatine the time, Nawab Malik, endorsed that the gathering happened successful Parliament House, and said helium excessively was present. “There was an connection from the PM and we discussed it successful our enactment and decided against it… Then Pawar Saheb conveyed it to the PM,” Malik said.

On whether the NCP chieftain sent Ajit to signifier the short-lived authorities with the BJP — conscionable 3 days aft this gathering helium claimed helium had had with Modi – Pawar quipped: “If that was so, past I would not person near the occupation incomplete!”

When asked astir this astatine the time, Shiv Sena (then united) MP Sanjay Raut claimed afloat cognition astir what was happening, adding that his party, the NCP and Congress were already successful the process of finalising the Maha Vikas Aghadi by then.

“We each were alert of who’s talking what and with whom… We adjacent had cognition of what was happening connected the Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar front,” Raut said.