Opinion | Sharad Pawar Praising RSS Should Be A Wake-Up Call For Congress – News18

Last Updated:January 19, 2025, 19:42 IST

It’s time for the Congress to come out of its comfort zone and realise that the momentum it gained after the Lok Sabha elections is over

On January 9, former Union minister and veteran leader Sharad Pawar, who heads the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) or NCP(SP), praised the cadres of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for showing unwavering loyalty to the organisation’s Hindutva ideology and not deviating from the path at any cost. He credited the organisational activities done by the cadres of the RSS to spread the Hindutva ideology resulting in the huge victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Maharashtra elections held last year.

Is NCP(SP) joining NDA?

Notably, Pawar’s praise of the organisation — the ideological parent of the BJP — comes at a time when there have been speculations of his party joining the saffron party-led by the NDA. Pawar doesn’t make any statement without any strategy in mind. No wonder his statement has assumed political significance. Remarkably, a few days ago, his daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule had praised Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has emerged as the popular BJP leader of the state.

While it is true that such statements give strength to speculations of the NCP(SP) joining the NDA, it is still immature to predict the political moves of Sharad Pawar, known for keeping cards close to his chest. Though there are reports of a section of NCP(SP) preferring to join the NDA government of the state, Pawar, as of now, is unlikely to formally join the NDA. However, it is also true that he wants to secure the political future of his daughter, Supriya Sule. After the excellent performance of the NCP led by nephew Ajit Pawar, Sharad Pawar is left with few options. There is buzz that Sharad Pawar wants a Union cabinet berth for his daughter Sule in the Modi government.

It has to be mentioned that in the undivided NCP, Sharad Pawar gave the affairs of the state to his nephew Ajit while his daughter Sule remained busy in parliamentary affairs of the party in the corridors of Delhi. Anything is possible in politics as let’s not forget that it was Sharad Pawar himself who had offered the support of undivided NCP to the BJP after the latter didn’t get majority in the Maharashtra state elections in 2014. It was also Sharad Pawar who played the crucial role to bring Hindutva undivided Shiv Sena away from the NDA in 2019 to form the MVA, which then included the Congress and the undivided NCP. Importantly, he also shares a cordial relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Whether the NCP(SP) joins the NDA or not, the statement indicates Sharad Pawar’s intentions to maintain cordial relations with the BJP and by praising the RSS, he is trying to build bridges directly with the Sangh Parivar, which has regained its strength following the BJP’s below expected performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, followed by the saffron party’s victories later in Haryana and Maharashtra elections.

A hidden message for the ally Congress

Given the current national scenario, Sharad Pawar’s statement is more directed towards the ally Congress, which is the senior partner of the Opposition Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

The grand old party, after being able to increase its seats to 99 in the last Lok Sabha elections, became overconfident and lost the Haryana state elections, despite having the momentum. Later, the party also lost the Maharashtra state elections badly. However, it hasn’t been gracious enough to concede the electoral defeats.

On January 15, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi raised doubts over the electoral system and alleged that “something wrong happened” in Maharashtra elections. This isn’t a new allegation. Since the party registered its worst performance in the Maharashtra state elections, it has been unable to deal with the shock of the setback it received. And to keep the morale of its ground soldiers high, the party seems to be following the easy route of sensationalism by casting doubt on the electoral process. Rahul’s recent statement only validates this.

At a time when the Congress is unable to graciously accept the electoral defeat in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar’s statement accepting the role of the RSS in the saffron victory and asking his party cadres to learn the kind of loyalty and dedication shown by the RSS cadres is actually a rejection of the lazy attitude taken by the Congress high command. Pawar accepting the fact of being complacent after the Lok Sabha elections, where the Opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bloc defeated the NDA, is a clear message to the Congress high command not to take the Narendra Modi-led BJP lightly and to remain rooted on the ground by focussing on organisational activities, rather than subscribing to sensationalism on social media platforms.

Signs of uneasiness within the INDIA camp

Remarkably, Sharad Pawar’s statement praising the RSS, which has been the main target of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, comes at a time when INDIA bloc constituents like Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and SS(UBT) declared their support for Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, ignoring the Congress, which is also in the fray. The message from the allies is clear — it’s time for the Congress to come out of its comfort zone and realise that the momentum it gained after the Lok Sabha elections is over.

Sagarneel Sinha is a political commentator and tweets @SagarneelSinha. Views expressed here are personal to the author and do not reflect the opinions of News18.