Pawar plans to topple BJP-Sena government in Maharashtra

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

Sharad Pawar plans to topple the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra.

The Congress leader briefed party chief Sitaram Kesri this week about his strategy to dislodge the BJP-Sena government, replacing it with a Congress administration.

Sources at Maharashtra Bhavan in the capital disclosed that Pawar told Kesri that with the party's prospects in Friday's Punjab assembly election gloomy, it was time the Congress made an impressive showing in some other state.

Pawar devised his strategy soon after two ministers in the Maharashtra government -- Mahadev Shivankar and Shashikant Sutar -- were divested of their portfolios by state Chief Minister Manohar Joshi. The two ministers are learnt to have expressed their discontent at their portfolios being taken away. Pawar quickly moved in to woo the disgruntled duo.

Sources said Pawar has received much encouragement from Shivankar and Sutar and will use their discontent to his advantage. He is now concentrating on wooing the 44 Independent legislators, many of whom support the BJP-Sena government. The Congress has 80 members in the Maharashtra assembly -- the BJP has 64, the Shiv Sena 73.

Pawar is assured of the support of the three Samajwadi Party legislators, but even if he wins over the 44 Independent legislators, the Congress's resultant strength -- 124-- would still be short of a simple majority in the House.

The Maratha leader then hopes to split the Sena and attract 21 of that party's legislators to achieve the magical figure -- 145 -- needed to form a government.

Pawar's supporters at the Congress headquarters told Rediff On The NeT that nobody should be surprised if the BJP-Sena government was toppled in Maharashtra soon.

Since such an event would be disastrous for the BJP -- which suffered a grave political setback in Gujarat last year and narrowly averted one in Rajasthan recently -- Kesri is understood to have given his sanction for Pawar's plan.