Will NCP's Jayant Patil go Ajit Pawar way? Pros and cons if he joins ruling Maharashtra alliance

Almost a month after Ajit Pawar parted ways with Sharad Pawar and joined the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra, speculations are rife that senior NCP leader Jayant Patil, a Sharad Pawar loyalist, will join the ruling alliance soon. The buzz started when a picture of Jayant Patil hugging and chatting with NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) MP Sunil Tatkare in the recently concluded monsoon session of the Maharashtra Assembly went viral.

The two play important roles in the NCP tug-of-war between Sharad and Ajit Pawar. A day after Ajit Pawar took oath as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, it was announced that Sunil Tatkare was appointed Maharashtra NCP chief after Jayant Patil was removed.

On August 6, there were unconfirmed reports of Jayant Patil secretly meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the latter's visit to Pune. However, Patil dismissed these reports, calling them baseless and reiterated that he will always be with Sharad Pawar.

Amid these talks of joining hands with the BJP, Jayant Patil seems to be indecisive in making up his mind about jumping the ship. The NCP leader is constantly weighing the pros and cons before taking a final call which can make or break his political career in the long run, said sources.

Let us take a look at these pros and cons:

Pros:

• He can get a cabinet berth as soon as he decides to join the ruling alliance. He will be accommodated with a heavyweight portfolio in the next cabinet expansion which matches his experience and political stature.
• As per sources, he is also promised the Lok Sabha seat of Hatkanangle in Maharashtra, which is currently represented by CM Shinde's Shiv Sena MP Dhairyasheel Mane. The NCP leader will also have the choice to contest it himself or give it to his son Pratik Patil.
• Jayant Patil was recently summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) money laundering case and questioned for several hours. Sources in NCP told India Today that Patil was grilled about Rajaram Bapu Co-operative sugar factory which is owned by his family. There are rumours that Jayant Patil will get relief in the case once he joins the ruling alliance.
• If he is reluctant to work under the leadership of Ajit Pawar, considering his internal party conflict, the BJP has also offered him to join the party, sources said.

Cons:

• Jayant Patil, being the most senior face of the Sharad Pawar camp, will have to compromise his ambition of being one of the contenders for the chief ministerial post as there already exist big candidates for it.
• He has represented the Islampur constituency in Sangli district of Maharashtra for the last three decades. He will be confined to his district as a leader if he joins the ruling side. He will have constraints on projecting himself as a statewide leader in the future.
• He will also have to deal with the issue of credibility crisis like other MLAs from CM Shinde and the Ajit Pawar camp. Leaving Sharad Pawar alone at this age might invoke public sympathy against him, which might be a setback for Patil.
• Most importantly, Jayant Patil will have a tough time garnering support and acceptance from the BJP, Shiv Sena and Congress leaders from and around his stronghold of Sangli district.

However, sources said talks are on with the BJP's senior leadership to strike the best deal possible. Depending on Jayant Patil's decision, it remains to be seen what the remaining leaders of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) will do.