The BJP high command put up a class act asking key contender and fierce opponent Vishwajit Rane to propose the name of the Pramod Sawant as the legislature party leader and directing a second vote from four others who were believed to be fence-sitters on the leadership issue. A beaming Sawant being greeted by Rane with a bouquet have provided the optics of “all is well that ends well”, but at the end of it all, it became amply clear that the BJP was indeed fighting an internal battle over leadership and portfolios.
The dust on the leadership issue may appear to have settled, but it has left many questions open. Why was there a leadership crisis in the first place? What led to the circumstances that put Sawant’s leadership under a cloud? How did Rane emerge as a contender when the BJP went into the election with Sawant as a chief ministerial face? Even on the designated day on Monday, hectic parleys at the BJP office that went into overtime with Sawant only reaching Raj Bhavan at around 7.45 pm, a clear one hour beyond schedule, indicated that the party had serious business to be settled.
If we may recall, BJP had projected Sawant as the chief ministerial face, and party’s election observer and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was on record that the BJP can’t look beyond Sawant to lead the new government. Against this backdrop, what transpired between February 14 and March 10 that saw Sawant on the edge and literally had to undergo a trust vote of the high command? Interestingly, while the so-called ‘small fry in the State BJP’ continued to portray unity, Sawant and Vishwajit were summoned to Delhi for a private audience with Amit Shah on the eve of the Goa visit by central observers, clearly suggesting that leadership was indeed an issue.
So, where was Sawant losing out? Going by sheer logic, and if elections are any barometer, Sawant could have been an obvious choice for the BJP for taking the party strength from 13 in 2017 elections to 20 in 2022, that too against a wave of public resentment, opposition hostility and anti-incumbency. He led BJP to convincing victories in municipal and Zilla panchayat elections, besides resurrecting the fortunes of the BJP by breaking down Opposition parties.
The peace that is now being negotiated through hectic parleys and compromises does not bode well for the government, especially for Sawant, because he has in the line-up some heavyweights with a voracious appetite for power. Sawant may have momentarily won a crucial leadership battle over Vishwajit, but he will have to be wary of the undercurrents, factionalism and the easy access of a few of his colleagues to the central high command. With the central command remote-controlling affairs and several waiting to pull down the chain, it remains to be seen how Sawant manages to stamp his authority in the new government.
