Mumbai:
Sharad Pawar's visit to Mumbai to fix the affairs of the NCP was a pre-scripted affair.
Everyone among the politicians and journalists 'knew' what was expected.
Since Ajit Pawar resigned as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, journalists were told by NCP MLAs exactly what would happen; Sharad Pawar would meet the 'unhappy' NCP MLAs, he would explain the party's position, Ajit Pawar's resignation would be a done deal and the other NCP MLAs, who had 'resigned' to their state chief, would be told to get back to work.
But like all good 'pre-scripted' political events, it had its 'oh my god, now what?!' moments.
The first one came when Sharad Pawar met up with nephew Ajit Pawar at Ceejay house, the residence of party vice president Praful Patel around one in the afternoon.
While most knew that the NCP president would meet his nephew in the course of his visit, few expected it to be first on senior Pawar's agenda.
SMSes started flying thick and fast between reporters on the Pawar trail.
OB vans were hurriedly called and cameramen poised. Finally as a reward most of us got shots of Sharad Pawar and Praful Patels backs. While mugs are preferable, shots of backs on days like these, is just fine.
Meanwhile there was another set of reporters waiting for the Chief Minister at the state guest house Sahayadri at Malabar Hills. The buzz was that the Chief Minister and the NCP supremo would meet here.
Even though the Chief Minister's office spent the whole day trying to tell that there was no scheduled meeting between him and Sharad Pawar, the reporters, never the ones to trust Personal Assistants of ministers entirely, lined up the footpath outside the guest house.
With cameras peering out of the thin camouflage of shrubbery and lenses focussed on the porch, soon enough we got shots of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. Actually Mr Chavan's back. And we began to wait for Sharad Pawar.
But soon enough reporters trailing the Pawar convoy hurriedly called to say, he was not heading towards Malabar Hills but Nariman Point! And that was the second 'oh my god, what now!?' moment of the day.
Suddenly reporters' phones started crackling. Why is he not meeting the chief minister? Will he meet him later after the NCP meet? Have they already met?
Leaving questions and the vigil there and to a few cameramen most of us then headed to the big NCP meeting of the day at Vidhan Bhavan at 4 pm. Like is the norm, we lined up the porch with the cameras. Hardly had the meeting begun when the whispering started: 'News from inside, Ajit dada has withdrawn his resignation!' What?!
And that was the third and probably the sharpest turn in the 'expected' narrative for journalists.
Soon enough we began dropping hints on our broadcasts to the studios. Lines like "we must not forget that one of the points in the meeting held by NCP on Wednesday did urge Ajit Pawar to withdraw his resignation and it's possible that he may re-consider" wafted through.
But all of this came to nothing once Sharad Pawar underscored the finality of Ajit Pawar's resignation.
He even took a jibe at us saying, "aapko laga kee aapko kuch masala milega Pawar vs Pawar ka, lekin yahaan aisa kuch nahin hua."
Oh well.
Though one question lingers: will the other ministers battling allegations of corruption like PWD minister Chaggan Bhujbal, Water Resources minister Sunil Tatkare and Housing minister Gulabrao Deokar take a cue from Ajit Pawar and resign?
Everyone among the politicians and journalists 'knew' what was expected.
Since Ajit Pawar resigned as Maharashtra's deputy chief minister, journalists were told by NCP MLAs exactly what would happen; Sharad Pawar would meet the 'unhappy' NCP MLAs, he would explain the party's position, Ajit Pawar's resignation would be a done deal and the other NCP MLAs, who had 'resigned' to their state chief, would be told to get back to work.
But like all good 'pre-scripted' political events, it had its 'oh my god, now what?!' moments.
The first one came when Sharad Pawar met up with nephew Ajit Pawar at Ceejay house, the residence of party vice president Praful Patel around one in the afternoon.
While most knew that the NCP president would meet his nephew in the course of his visit, few expected it to be first on senior Pawar's agenda.
SMSes started flying thick and fast between reporters on the Pawar trail.
OB vans were hurriedly called and cameramen poised. Finally as a reward most of us got shots of Sharad Pawar and Praful Patels backs. While mugs are preferable, shots of backs on days like these, is just fine.
Meanwhile there was another set of reporters waiting for the Chief Minister at the state guest house Sahayadri at Malabar Hills. The buzz was that the Chief Minister and the NCP supremo would meet here.
Even though the Chief Minister's office spent the whole day trying to tell that there was no scheduled meeting between him and Sharad Pawar, the reporters, never the ones to trust Personal Assistants of ministers entirely, lined up the footpath outside the guest house.
With cameras peering out of the thin camouflage of shrubbery and lenses focussed on the porch, soon enough we got shots of chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. Actually Mr Chavan's back. And we began to wait for Sharad Pawar.
But soon enough reporters trailing the Pawar convoy hurriedly called to say, he was not heading towards Malabar Hills but Nariman Point! And that was the second 'oh my god, what now!?' moment of the day.
Suddenly reporters' phones started crackling. Why is he not meeting the chief minister? Will he meet him later after the NCP meet? Have they already met?
Leaving questions and the vigil there and to a few cameramen most of us then headed to the big NCP meeting of the day at Vidhan Bhavan at 4 pm. Like is the norm, we lined up the porch with the cameras. Hardly had the meeting begun when the whispering started: 'News from inside, Ajit dada has withdrawn his resignation!' What?!
And that was the third and probably the sharpest turn in the 'expected' narrative for journalists.
Soon enough we began dropping hints on our broadcasts to the studios. Lines like "we must not forget that one of the points in the meeting held by NCP on Wednesday did urge Ajit Pawar to withdraw his resignation and it's possible that he may re-consider" wafted through.
But all of this came to nothing once Sharad Pawar underscored the finality of Ajit Pawar's resignation.
He even took a jibe at us saying, "aapko laga kee aapko kuch masala milega Pawar vs Pawar ka, lekin yahaan aisa kuch nahin hua."
Oh well.
Though one question lingers: will the other ministers battling allegations of corruption like PWD minister Chaggan Bhujbal, Water Resources minister Sunil Tatkare and Housing minister Gulabrao Deokar take a cue from Ajit Pawar and resign?
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