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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 4:59:11 pm

Tawde’s journey from exile to UP fortress

Mumbai: In 2014, when Narendra Modi first ascended to the Prime Minister’s office, he entrusted the politically complex and electorally decisive state of Uttar Pradesh to his closest confidant, Amit Shah. Now, in a move that has sent ripples through the corridors of power, the Bharatiya Janata Party has bestowed that exact strategic mantle upon its National General Secretary, Vinod Tawde. With the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly elections looming just a year away in 2027, Tawde’s appointment...

Tawde’s journey from exile to UP fortress

Mumbai: In 2014, when Narendra Modi first ascended to the Prime Minister’s office, he entrusted the politically complex and electorally decisive state of Uttar Pradesh to his closest confidant, Amit Shah. Now, in a move that has sent ripples through the corridors of power, the Bharatiya Janata Party has bestowed that exact strategic mantle upon its National General Secretary, Vinod Tawde. With the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly elections looming just a year away in 2027, Tawde’s appointment as the state in-charge is a masterstroke of political rehabilitation and trust. While many political pundits anticipated Tawde might replace Dharmendra Pradhan in the Modi cabinet, the high command had a far more vital organizational mission in mind for the leader who, remarkably, found himself politically uprooted from his home turf of Maharashtra barely seven years ago. Serving as the Education Minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government, Tawde was a prominent and powerful face of the state BJP. However, the political winds shifted abruptly prior to the 2019 assembly elections. In a move that shocked many, his portfolios were drastically curtailed and handed over to Ashish Shelar, followed by the ultimate political blow: he was denied a ticket to contest from his stronghold constituency of Borivali. Whispers of a fierce, underlying political rivalry with Fadnavis flooded political circles, with widespread speculation suggesting that the Chief Minister had orchestrated the systematic downsizing of Tawde’s administrative influence to neutralize a potential competitor. Faced with a sudden, humiliating political exile, Tawde stood at a crossroads where many regional leaders opt for rebellion. Instead, he chose the path of extreme discipline, absorbing the setback and redirecting his focus entirely on national politics. Leveraging his deep, foundational roots in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Tawde utilized his vast organizational network—a residual strength that survived his loss of ministerial power. His political resurrection was championed by the then-BJP President J.P. Nadda, a fellow ABVP alumnus who shared a profound camaraderie with the exiled leader. Recognizing his untapped potential, Nadda brought him to Delhi, initiating a comeback that began with his appointment as the Haryana in-charge in 2020 and culminated in his rapid elevation to National General Secretary in 2021. Tawde’s tenure as an organizational architect quickly yielded dividends. After stabilizing the party apparatus in Haryana, he was thrown into the politically volatile cauldron of Bihar in 2022. The BJP was navigating an exceptionally hostile environment marred by the shifting allegiances of Nitish Kumar and the looming shadow of the RJD. Immersing himself in booth-level micro-management and delicate alliance negotiations, Tawde orchestrated a remarkable consolidation. His strategic maneuvers were instrumental when Nitish Kumar eventually returned to the NDA fold in 2023, paving the way for the coalition’s formidable performance in the subsequent 2024 Lok Sabha and 2025 Bihar Assembly elections. As his stock rose, the central leadership began entrusting him with prestige assignments that transcended typical state electoral politics. Tawde emerged as a highly effective backroom coordinator during the 2022 presidential election of Droupadi Murmu, seamlessly managing cross-party liaisons across multiple states. He replicated this managerial success during C.P. Radhakrishnan’s vice-presidential election in 2025. Beyond electoral arithmetic, Tawde spearheaded massive national outreach initiatives, leading the ‘Sanghatan Parv 2024’ membership drive and coordinating complex central campaigns ranging from ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ to the delicate domestic communications during ‘Operation Ganga’ in Ukraine. Vinod Tawde has not merely returned from the political wilderness; he has conquered it, transforming a harsh regional sidelining into an undisputed mandate at the very heart of the nation’s political epicenter.

Warring MVA allies take their fight to Pawar

With the Congress and Shiv Sena-UBT sparring over around 15 seats with threats of even going independent, Sharad Pawar has stepped in to keep the MVA intact

Pawar

Mumbai: Temperatures in Maharashtra are soaring and its not just the mercury that spiraling upwards. Frenetic discussions and arguments among constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are raising the heat as the seat sharing arrangement is yet inconclusive. Sharad Pawar, reckoned as the architect of the MVA, has been roped in to quell the controversy with leaders of the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena making urgent visits to the senior leader’s office. With no consensus in sight, Aditya Thackeray met Pawar in an attempt to seek his mediation in breaking the impasse.


The flashpoint, it is said, is over the seats in Vidarbha and Mumbai where neither the Shiv Sena-UBT nor the Congress currently have much of a presence. But traditionally, the area has elected Congress candidates which is the reason the party is refusing to concede those constituencies to the Sena.


Sources say that the state unit of the Congress has urged its party bosses not to give in to the Shiv Sena-UBT’s “unreasonable demands”. The deadlock is reportedly over 15 seats mostly in Vidarbha where both parties want to increase their presence.


The two parties have been putting up a strong stance with neither willing to blink first. If Sanjay Raut irked Congress leader Nana Patole by commenting that the Maharashtra Congress cannot take a decision, Congress leaders sent signals that they wouldn’t hesitate to walk out of the alliance if Uddhav Thackeray doesn’t relent.


While Pawar is working the phone lines with the Congress top brass in Delhi, Vijay Wadettiwar announced that while the impasse continues on “six to seven seats in Vidarbha”, the MVA is intact seat sharing arrangement might be finalised by Tuesday evening. Vidarbha has traditionally been a Congress stronghold and while it may not have a widespread presence there at present, the party is challenging the SS-UBT’s insistence on fielding candidates there.


It is said that prominent constituencies such as Ramtek, Warora and Nagpur South. Similarly, there are a few seats in Mumbai where the Congress feels it stands a better chance than the Shiv Sena-UBT. The Shiv Sena-UBT may give up its claim on certain key seats in Vidarbha which have been held by the Congress for years until a BJP wave swept across this eastern part of Maharashtra that has, for long, experienced neglect and farm distress.


Another flashpoint is believed to be the Bandra East constituency which was won by the Congress’s Zeeshan Siddiqui last time. While Siddiqui has switched over Ajit Pawar’s party, the Congress wants to stake claim to this seat which has a sizeable Muslim population. However, Thackeray’s nephew Varun Sardesai has started increasing his presence in the area with the Sena-UBT demanding that constituency.

Pawar’s meetings with leaders from both parties indicate that the NCP-SP supremo is the one who can play the mediator between the warring factions considering he is believed to be the one who had stitched together the alliance between unlikely partners with contrasting political ideologies. Party sources say that Pawar has spoken to the top bosses of both, the Shiv Sena-UBT and the Congress, underlining the need for the MVA to stay intact.

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