Arms Dealer Turned Political Broker: Inside the Sena Switch and NSA's Rising Clout

In a six-month-long operation, six MPs from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena were persuaded to switch allegiance to the Eknath Shinde faction. The operation culminated in the MPs being flown from Pune, Nanded and Mumbai to Delhi on a chartered plane, where they stayed at the Leela Palace Hotel.

A key figure in this operation was Abhishek Verma, who serves as the Chief National Coordinator for NDA Alliance and Elections in the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Verma, an arms dealer who joined the party last year, was previously accused of being a middleman in the Rs 18,798-crore Scorpene submarine deal. He was also investigated in the naval war room leak case but was later acquitted by a court. In 2006, the BJP held a press conference alleging that the Scorpene deal involved the largest kickback ever, prompting Verma to file a defamation suit against L.K. Advani.

Separately, in the realm of foreign policy, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has expanded his influence. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Doval last week, while Wang and his deputy were absent from the BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in May, where China was represented by its ambassador to India. Doval often represents India in key negotiations with certain countries instead of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, indicating a growing role for the NSA at the expense of the foreign minister's traditional domain.

Doval, an 81-year-old former police officer, has become more consequential in foreign affairs than his predecessors Brajesh Mishra, M.K. Narayanan and Shiv Shankar Menon. He founded the Vivekananda Foundation, an organisation with RSS leanings, after retirement. Holding cabinet rank, Doval moved out of the Prime Minister's Office and now operates from the entire Sardar Patel Bhavan for the National Security Council. While Jaishankar focuses on the US, the Americas and Europe, Doval has cultivated special relationships with countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. In 2021, he revived a flagging Indo-Russian relationship, and his influence extends even to France. On domestic issues concerning Islamic institutions and connections with Islamic countries, Doval has a direct channel.