1978 once more? Pawar play sees rainbow coalition

MUMBAI: NCP president Sharad Pawars cautious optimism and ability to bridge political divides stood out as the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena coalition was finally sealed on Friday, underscoring his role as the states most influential politician.
A key NCP functionary pointed out that Pawar had kept his word, recalling a poll rally in a western Maharashtra last month where the former Union minister and three-time CM had said he would go home only after "sending them (the BJP) packing".
"In less than a month, Pawar has ousted the BJP from power in a bloodless coup that will have far-reaching impact on state politics," the NCP functionary said, adding, "Pawarsaheb has emerged the real winner in the assembly polls."
Now his administrative acumen and crisis management skills are expected to stand him in good stead while he tries to keep the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance on an even keel, said observers.
Days after the assembly poll results, even though it became apparent that Uddhav Thackeray was unlikely to give in to the BJP and give up his 50:50 power sharing formula, Pawar had kept his counsel.
For nearly a week, the cool-as-cucumber NCP president maintained that his party was content to play a "constructive" role as the Opposition in the state and that the mandate was in favour of the ruling BJP-Sena combine.
However, he kept open a line of communication with the Shiv Sena through friend and admirer Sanjay Raut who was invited to join him for tea and talks at his tree-lined Napean Sea Road residence. So while Thackeray stepped up his rhetoric against the BJP, Pawar began to cajole the Congress into joining a proposed tripartite alliance.
Soon, he was flitting between Mumbai and Delhi, holding talks with Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders, as also close confidantes in NCP; Raut, of course, remained a mere phone call away. Pawars tactical skills were evident from the fact that he kept both BJP and the media guessing through vague soundbytes.
At one stage, it looked as though Sonia Gandhi would continue to hew close to the partys line on "ideological incompatibility" with the Sena. Unfazed, Pawar got down to fine-tuning a power-sharing formula and going through the draft of the common minimum programme, which, he was shrewd enough to know, would find favour with the state unit of the Congress.
Again, past experience came to Pawar's help. On board the Progressive Democratic Front alliance, which he cobbled to oust the Congress Party from power in circa 1978, were disparate political elements such as the Jan Sanghis (the earlier avatar of the BJP) and dyed-iRead More – Source