The games politicians play! When the Maha Vikas Aghadi of Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena formed government, Ajit Pawar wasn’t among the main players, till the BJP engineered the break-up of the Maha Vikas Aghadi by splitting the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party. Ajit Pawar found himself in the Mahayuti, one of two Maharashtra Deputy chief ministers.

The games politicians play! Now, there’s another Maharashtra Assembly election round the corner and it is back to ‘games politicians play’. Common to then and now are Uncle Pawar and Nephew Pawar with the BJP part of the games politicians play. Is Gautam Adani still in the BJP's corner? Fact is, Gautam Adani's presence in the games politicians play isn't surprising. Not after Ajit Pawar spilled the beans and disclosed that he, his uncle Sharad Pawar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and industrialist Gautam Adani had discussed regime-change in Maharashtra at Adani’s Delhi pad in 2019!

Now, the entire opposition is asking questions. Two key politicians, Amit Shah and Sharad Pawar and one moneybag, who is the odd man out. What was discussed at that meeting? Sharad Pawar came back to say that Adani hosted the meeting, but did not take part in the discussions.

But regime-change was discussed and Gautam Adani was in the house. And when did anybody trust Sharad Pawar to come clean? What games were played at that meeting in Adani’s house is a matter of concern and a mystery as well? It is difficult to believe that a go-getter like Gautam Adani would have kept a wall between him and two politicians? Was Adani the moneybag with the “50 khoka”, Bollywoodia for "Rs 1 crore", for every defector from the then whole Shiv Sena?

Everybody knows Gautam Adani has never been far from the games politicians play. Did Adani have a hand in the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray government in 2022? The INDI-Alliance is asking the question. Was it the BJP’s handiwork with help from Gautam Adani? Sharad Pawar doesn't remember. For Sharad Pawar, meeting politicians is like an apple a day!

But Gautam Adani was "host" while Amit Shah and Sharad Pawar played along with Ajit Pawar! The reality is political parties are always in cahoots. When elections are round the corner, they go for each other’s throats, indulge in name-calling, and divulge each other's dirty secrets. But, when the results come home to roost, they meet in hush-hush. And moneybags join them in playing the games politicians play.

Ordinary folks never hear of such secret meetings. Till, for whatever the reason, somebody like Ajit Pawar opens the Pandora’s Box of the games politicians play. There's nothing noble about politicians! And industrialist-businessmen have their own pound of flesh in mind. Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, and Amit Shah, all three took part in the games politicians play. They kept their mouths shut but did they keep their noses clean?

The question is did Adani “bankroll” the split in the Shiv Sena, leading to Uddhav Thackeray's resignation and the fall of the MVA government? Money was not a problem. The discussion at Adani’s Delhi residence was peppered with "50 khoka" for every Shiv Sena leader who left Uddhav Thackeray's 'Shiv Sena'.

Did the discussions at Adani's residence seek to replace the MVA government with a BJP-led government? Did Gautam Adani help the BJP to engineer the collapse of the MVA government in 2022? Did Adani pump in money to break the Shiv Sena, which led to the fall of the MVA government? According to Ajit Pawar, the meeting in Adani's Delhi residence was attended by Adani, Amit Shah, Sharad Pawar, Devendra Fadnavis, Praful Patel and himself.

Ajit Pawar, in fact, said that there was a series of such meetings with Adani in attendance in the year 2019. The early morning swearing-in of Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis was the result of such parleys and Ajit Pawar insists that Sharad Pawar gave permission to Ajit Pawar to attend the meetings held in Adani's residence, but that Sharad Pawar later blamed Ajit Pawar for aligning with the BJP.

“It has been five years. Everyone knows where the meeting happened; that it happened in Delhi at a businessman’s house. Everyone knows it… All of it happened five years ago... Yes, there were five meetings. Everyone was there. Let me tell you again. Amit Shah, Gautam Adani, Praful Patel, Devendra Fadnavis and Sharad Pawar. Everyone was there. Everything was decided. The blame has fallen on me. I have taken the blame and let others be safe,” Ajit Pawar opened up to a journalist who used to work for NDTV before Gautam Adani bought it, allegedly for a lark!

Last heard, Ajit Pawar had done a U-turn and now says “Adani was not there” and that Sharad Pawar had set up a panel of three leaders including him, Praful Patel and Jayant Patil to discuss power-sharing with the BJP, but that the discussions had broken down. Ajit Pawar says “no one can tell what is on Pawarsahab’s mind… Neither aunty, nor Supriya (Sule).”

Actually, nobody knows what is in nobody's mind. Supriya Sule is not talking on this issue. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is not talking. Nobody from the BJP is talking. And there is no statement from the Adani Group. Nobody in the circle of politicians wants to hold forth on Adani's contribution to regime-change in these times of BJP-rule.

Only Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray is asking, “Who gave the money to pull down our government? Who was behind giving 50 khoka? After Ajit Pawar’s disclosure, people should have got an idea. There is an attempt to grab Mumbai, we won’t let that happen.” The Congress chipped in with “it is clear that the industrialist has been meddling in Maharashtra’s political affairs.” Sharad Pawar says Maharashtra has fallen into the "wrong hands." The games politicians play! (IPA Service)