The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: An upcoming event in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar are likely to share the stage has set off a sense of disquiet among the ranks of the opposition. Pawar has been in the midst of a rebellion in his party ranks, with its top leadership Ajit Pawar, Dilip Walse-Patil, Praful Patel, and Chagan Bhujbal along with several NCP legislators recently joining the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra.
Although Pawar in his statements, social media messaging, and posturing in the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament has been unequivocal about his loyalty to the recently formed opposition front, the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A), he has also had closed-door meetings with his party rebels at least thrice over the last month, apparently to keep his flock intact.
Reports emerging from Maharashtra have indicated that Pawar, true to his wily personality, hasn’t made his political stance as clear as he should have, and that his efforts to keep his party united may also lead him to switch towards the BJP’s side.
In the midst of such circumstances, Pawar’s decision to share the stage with Modi has had the rumour mills working overtime, and in the process creating greater confusion among opposition ranks. The event on August 1 is being organised by the Lokmanya Tilak Smarak Mandir Trust to confer an award to Modi for his “leadership and efforts to instill a sense of patriotism among citizens”. Pawar has been invited as the chief guest of the ceremony in which governor Ramesh Bais, Ajit Pawar, chief minister Eknath Shinde, BJP leader and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, are also among the VIP invitees.
Although the two factions in the NCP spoke critically of each other in the initial days of the rebellion, both sides restrained themselves from attacking each other after Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel met the NCP supremo at his house recently.
The Hindu reported that at the meeting of INDIA parties on Friday, several opposition leaders flagged the issue of Sharad Pawar joining the event organised to award Modi. They believed that it would create bad “optics” for the coalition at a time when they are locked in a stiff battle with the Modi government over the Manipur violence and have moved a no-trust motion against the union government.
A regional party, the daily reported, was the first party to express its disquiet over the development, while other leaders urged Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to dissuade Pawar from participating in the event.
NCP‘s Rajya Sabha member Vandana Chavan was the only representative from the party at the meeting, who did not comment on the issue. It is learnt that a top leader commented, “We can awaken those who are sleeping but can we awaken those who are pretending to sleep,” The Hindu reported.
Moreover, the INDIA constituents were also worried about the presence of some of the top leaders in the Parliament on August 1, 2023, when contentious bills like the Delhi services bill will likely be taken up and could be up for a vote in Rajya Sabha. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is also likely to urge the NCP chief to skip the event to be present in the Parliament.
Amidst these developments, Pawar is also said to have assured the Congress leaders that he is firmly on the side of the INDIA coalition, and has been pitching to make the upcoming third meeting of all the parties in Mumbai a grand success. Pawar reportedly called a meeting of Congress leaders on Friday to discuss arrangements for the opposition meeting in Mumbai and is said to have spoken to Uddhav Thackeray too. Pawar has mooted the idea of organising a big Maha Vikas Aghadi rally as a precursor to the opposition meeting in Mumbai.