Sharad Pawar
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Contents |
Autobiography
Mediating between Dr Manmohan Singh’s government and Mr Modi
May 10, 2023: The Times of India
I have always maintained a good dialogue with as many people as possible in my long political career. The six-odd decades of my public life have convinced me time and again that regular dialogue with stakeholders is the key to resolving many issues, striking bonds, and keeping relations alive.
Whenever there is an impasse, whether in politics or in other fields, people approach me for arbitration in the belief that I would find a way out. The reason for this trust is simple. They know that it is my constant endeavour to clear up any misunderstandings or doubts that warring parties possibly harbour.
The 2004-14 decade offered me an opportunity to play the mediator's role between the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Centre and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) government in Gujarat, where Narendra Modi was the chief minister.
While Modi had a deep-seated dislike for the Congress leadership, the latter too kept him at arm's length. It was unfortunate that, notwithstanding the fact that Gujarat was one of the constituent states of the Indian federal structure, the strained mutual relations had brought the dialogue between the Centre and the state to a halt.
The reluctance of the Congress ministers at the Centre to have any dialogue with Modi was palpable. I felt really sorry that the people of Gujarat were suffering because of the animosity between the Centre and the state.
I shared my concern with Dr Manmohan Singh. The mature and seasoned person that he is, he readily agreed with me. "You handle this responsibility,” he suggested. That paved the way for initiating a regular dialogue between the Centre and the state of Gujarat. Since I was entrusted with that responsibility, Modi often visited my office and residence to discuss state matters that were pending with the Centre. Many of those glitches did get resolved consequent to our meetings.
My cordial relations with Modi are a frequently recurring topic of discussion in the public domain. The roots of our cordiality, as you would see, go back to the responsibility that I carried out as the Union government's representative during 2004-14.
I have mentioned my personal experience for a good reason. Any discord in the political and administrative processes inevitably causes a number of problems in governance. They can be resolved quickly only if there is a sustained dialogue among the parties concerned. If the leader of the nation is short on this skill, the resultant loss would not remain confined to an individual. The entire nation would pay the price. Therefore, when a leader is adamant about not engaging in a dialogue with others, it is simply not acceptable. A stunted process of dialogue has been frequently evident in Modi's own political journey.
The change of guard at the Centre in 2014 did not come about accidentally. The UPA government was reeling under an onslaught of corruption charges causing immense unrest in people's minds across the nation. Latching onto it, the BJP conducted an aggressive campaign in the Lok Sabha elections.
Narendra Modi was first appointed as BJP's campaign chief and then elevated as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate. He immediately embarked on a nationwide tour to launch a frontal attack on the UPA government. Those were early days of social media, but the BJP lost little time in chalking out an elaborate plan to conduct a no-holds-barred campaign against the UPA government.
The middle class became more and more restive as the party kicked up a storm of allegations through various social media platforms. Young men and women were at the forefront of the campaign. All in all, the BJP succeeded in projecting Modi as the new messiah rising on the national horizon. The party campaign effectively spread the myth that Modi was the only answer to all the national ills and that he would not only root out corruption but also lead the nation on the path to all-round progress.
Hemmed in by a litany of corruption charges, the Congress leadership could not stand up to the relentless ferocity. The 'India Against Corruption' campaign led by Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and others aggravated the situation all over the country. The campaign was high on credibility because it was perceived as non-political. Because it coincided with Modi's blistering attack on the corruption issue, people came to believe that the BJP alone would provide a viable alternative to the UPA. Hence the UPA's electoral losses directly translated into BJP's gains.
One more important point deserves mention in this regard. Modi had started implementing his strategy against the Manmohan Singh government long before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. It was an old practice for the Prime Minister of the country to call meetings of all chief ministers to discuss important current issues with a view to building a broad national consensus.
Dr Manmohan Singh continued the tradition and the chief ministers used the forum to share their views freely. Modi, however, started a new practice during Dr Singh's tenure. He used to convene a meeting of all the BJP chief ministers a little before the PM's meeting to decide a common strategy. This group pre-decided the stand to be taken on various issues and the degree of aggression to be adopted when opposing certain proposals that would be presented by the other side.
Earlier too, the PM's meetings did witness occasional sharp exchanges among participants. But the very tone of the meetings changed completely when the chief ministers of BJP-run states and the party’s allies started launching concerted attacks. The Modi brand of aggression thus found a reflection in these meetings. This sort of all-out aggression against political opponents was also evident in the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, and it did not change even after he came to power.
Modi's family had a modest background and he himself had started his political career as an ordinary party worker. So a large number of people in the country were naturally overawed by his meteoric rise to the prime minister's chair. When he stepped into Parliament for the first time, he bowed, with his forehead touching the stairs. This act of paying obeisance to the 'temple of democracy', as he called it, further reassured the masses. The veracity of his sentiments, however, was going to be tested only after his government started functioning. Those who were familiar with his working style had strong doubts about how he would run the office. There were valid reasons for those reservations. Modi had discontinued several parliamentary practices when he became the chief minister of Gujarat. There used to be elaborate discussions following the state’s governor's address in the legislative houses. During Modi's tenure, the time allotted for those discussions was curtailed. Modi also restricted the debate on the state budget proposals which is a serious legislative exercise. As a result, members of the house did not get enough time to discuss the financial provisions made for various government departments. This new practice in the Gujarat legislature was later carried forward to Parliament as well.
Translated by Anand Agashe
Career
1960-2023 April
From: May 3, 2023: The Times of India
See graphic:
Sharad Pawar’s career, 1960-2023 April
1999-2019: Credibility lost and then regained
Abhijit Atre, Nov 27, 2019: The Times of India
Key Highlights
In his five-decade-long political career, Pawar has switched parties in the quest for power and, when needed, even amended his stand on issues
The quelling of rebellion by his nephew Ajit Pawar may help Sharad Pawar regain the "trust factor" that has been missing from his brand of politics
PUNE: "Vastad sagle dav shikavto pan ek dav kayam rakhun thevto (a wrestling coach teaches his disciples all the tricks of the game but keeps that one trick to himself)." This was the top post on 'Fakta Sharad Pawar Saheb', the Facebook page of Pawar's followers. It came soon after Pawar's nephew Ajit quit the Devendra Fadnavis government.
What the senior Pawar achieved by overseeing the downfall of the three-day-old government in the state is not limited to establishing that he is the undisputed boss of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and that he has the ability to take on the Chanakyas of the saffron parties. His winning, chess-like moves during the fluid political situation in the state gave him the opportunity to reclaim his credibility.
He has been a rebel himself; it was a rebellion by him that dented his credibility early on in his political career when he became chief minister of the state at the age of 38. Now, it is the quelling of the rebellion by his nephew which may help him regain the "trust factor" that has been missing from his brand of politics. For many years now, Pawar has been dubbed the "unpredictable politician". "When he says yes, he means no," his critics say.
When Ajit took oath as deputy chief minister on Saturday morning, the suspicion that he may have done so on the directives of his uncle lingered throughout the day. This despite the senior Pawar tweeting that assuming office was Ajit's personal decision.
Such has been the apprehension about the NCP chief that a senior Congress leader said that he had conveyed to the party high command his niggling doubt that Pawar would double-cross them. The Congress had, therefore, taken time to come on board with the NCP and Shiv Sena.
The Congress politician cannot be blamed for harbouring doubts about Pawar. In his five-decade-long political career, Pawar has switched parties in the quest for power and, when needed, even amended his stand on issues.
Pawar broke away from the Congress in 1999 while questioning Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin. But he joined hands with the same party later in a post-poll alliance and even gave public speeches justifying how, according to Indian tradition, a daughter-in-law becomes part of the family, irrespective of her origins. In the run-up to the 2014 assembly polls, he vehemently campaigned against the BJP, terming it a "communal party". But after the election results, he offered the BJP unconditional outside support, scuttling the Sena's chances of driving a hard bargain for ministerial berths in the government. This time around, he has cast the NCP's lot with the Sena, arguing that the need of the hour is to keep a "non-secular" party like the BJP away from power.
Pawar has sometimes offered justifications for his moves and even his critics have occasionally endorsed his change in stance and strategy, but nothing has helped erase the "unpredictability" stamp on him. Late veteran journalist Govind Talwalkar, who witnessed the 1978 political coup by Pawar, had written in 'Maharashtra Times' a decade ago that Pawar did not backstab Vasantdada Patil as was made out by the media, including himself.
He said the rebellion was enacted by Pawar after a green signal from Y B Chavan and that he (Talwalkar) was witness to the entire backroom drama. But coming 25 years later, Talwalkar's "revelation" did not help improve the perception about the political coup.
This time around, Pawar has remained true to his word given to the Sena and the Congress. He was at the forefront of countering 'Operation Lotus' and was able to make his nephew fall in line. This may help him regain that elusive trust but it comes when the Maratha strongman is set to celebrate his 80th birthday next month (December 12) and after over 50 years in politics. And yet, there are several who still say they can't predict what he has up his sleeve next.
2019: NCP does well in assembly elections
From: Oct 26, 2019: The Times of India
See graphic:
In 2019 Pawar’s NCP did well in the assembly elections
Relations with the Congress
The Times of India, Dec 13 2015
Rajeev Deshpande
Rajiv wanted to oust me from Maha CM's chair
NCP chief Sharad Pawar says Rajiv Gandhi had initiated a coup against his chief ministership but the plan came a cropper when the legislature party overwhelmingly voted in his favour in 1990. Some Maharashtra Congress bigwigs raised a banner of revolt against his leadership. He says he was sure that while they were acting at the behest of the high command, they had little support on the ground. It triggered a battle of wits between the leadership and the CM and ended in embarrassment for Rajiv Gandhi. He has made these claims in his just released book “On My Terms“.
Interestingly , while he has expressed desire to join hands with Congress again in 2019, Pawar also says that the Gandhis “consider Congress as their family fiefdom“, adding that Sonia Gandhi would not have brooked an independentminded PM, a reason he lost out to Naransimha Rao in 1991.
Ghulam Nabi Azad and G K Moopanar came to Mumbai as central observers for the meeting of the legislature party and the legislators had been told in advance that the “higher ups“ desired a change in leadership.
The observers did not want a vote in the legislature party and preferred individual meetings to gauge the mood what Pawar says “was the usual ploy employed by the high command to muffle the majority view which was inconvenient to them“. But many MLAs and MLCs turn ed hostile to the idea.
Pawar was soon called to Delhi for a meeting with Ra jiv Gandhi who made a query of courtesy “what's happen ing“. Pawar says he replied “You know better than me Everyone in Mumbai acted quite efficiently as per your instructions. However, they unfortunately could not mus ter support.“
Pawar says, Rajiv Gandhi obliquely accepted his role in the aborted coup. “No, no Something went wrong there I had just asked them to shake the tree, not uproot it,“ he re plied. He says he later pressed for the removal of rebels from the state cabinet but Ra jiv Gandhi did not agree.
Issues leading to exit/ 1999
HIGHLIGHTS
Targeted her over ‘Italian origin’: Pranab in book
'In 1999 Pawar expected the party to request him, instead of Sonia Gandhi, to stake claim to form the government'
Former President Pranab Mukherjee has said that unfulfilled political ambitions of heading the Congress party may have prompted Maratha satrap Sharad Pawar to revolt against Sonia Gandhi and launch his own outfit NCP.
In his book 'Coalition Years', Mukherjee touched upon the attack orchestrated by Pawar over Sonia's "Italian origin" in a meeting of the Congress working committee in 1999.
According to Mukherjee, Pawar was perhaps slighted by the fact that Congress had asked Sonia to stake claim to form the government after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime fell in a confidence vote. Also, Pawar had been downgraded as an advisor after Sonia took the party reins.
"In my opinion, Pawar, as the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, expected the party to request him, instead of Sonia Gandhi, to stake claim to form the government. After Sonia's elevation as the Congress president, she consulted P Shiv Shankar on all important issues rather than Pawar. This sense of alienation and disenchantment may have been responsible for his statements on Sonia's foreign origin, and his subsequent exit from the party in 1999," Mukherjee wrote.
Pawar, along with PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar, created a sensation at the famous CWC meeting, later quitting Congress to form NCP. The candid opinion, interestingly, came alongside Mukherjee's positive appraisal of the NCP chief as a politician and minister.
An interesting anecdote pertains to Mukherjee's trip to Mumbai while campaigning for the post of the President.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had announced support for Mukherjee despite being part of the rival coalition NDA led by the BJP.
In the book, Mukherjee said Sonia was against his meeting Thackeray but Pawar advised him otherwise and insisted that he visit the Sena chief's residence. "Pawar added that Thackeray would consider it a personal insult if I did not meet him during my visit to Mumbai," recalled the former President.
The Pawar family
As in 2023 April
Zeeshan Shaikh, May 5, 2023: The Indian Express
Political dynasties in Maharashtra are as old as the state. The Pawars, the Chavans and the Thackerays have all served in many offices, including the chief minister’s. Among all of them, however, the 11 children of Govindrao and Shardabai Pawar have cumulatively had the most profound impact on its socio-economic and political landscape.
While the 82-year-old Sharad Govindrao Pawar is the most dominant and well-known name in the Pawar clan, the other 10 siblings have made a name for themselves in their respective fields.
Sharad Pawar is the eight child of Govindrao and Shardabai Pawar who had seven sons and four daughters. Pawar’s political grounding is said to have been inspired by the activism of his mother Shardabai Pawar, who was associated with the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) and the Congress. In 1938, Shardabai got elected unopposed in the Pune local board elections and was one of the very few women politicians in Pune district.
The Pawar Family
Sharad Pawar often credits his mother for imbibing in him and his siblings a respect for hard work and commitment to public causes.
Pawar”s eldest brother Vasantrao Pawar was a noted lawyer who operated in Pune district when he was shot dead over a land dispute. Along with Vasantrao, three other brothers of Sharad are now deceased. They include Dinkarrao Pawar, who was an agriculturist, Anantrao Pawar who is the father of Ajit Pawar, and Madhavrao Pawar, who set up his own industrial units.
Suryakant Pawar is an architect who has interests in the real estate sector. He is followed by Sarla Jagtap and Saroj Patil. Patil is the wife of late Narayan Dyandeo Patil, a towering figure in the state’s Left movement, who was associated with the PWP. Sharad Pawar and N D Patil represented two contrasting approaches to politics and faced off on various political issues, but never let that come in the way of their personal relations.
Sharad Pawar is the eight child in the family, followed by Meena Jagdhane, Pratap Pawar, who heads the Sakal group of newspapers, and Neela Sasane.
Sharad has been active in electoral politics since 1967, when he won his first Assembly election from Baramati. After that, he had an uninterrupted tenure in the Maharashtra Assembly or Parliament, till he said he was “withdrawing from electoral politics” in 2019.
He has served as chief minister of Maharashtra four times and has had a long stint in the Union Cabinet, serving important portfolios including Defence and Agriculture.
While the second generation after Govindrao and Shardabai Pawar largely stuck together, it is with the emergence of the third generation of the family that there have been increasing signs of dissension in the clan.
Like the rest of the Pawar family, Ajit, the son of Sharad’s elder brother Anantrao, rose in politics through the cooperative sector. By Pawar’s side since 1991-92, he had fancied himself as heir apparent, after Sharad broke away from the Congress to form the NCP.
But Sharad’s daughter Supriya Sule’s entry into politics in the 2009 parliamentary elections led to speculation about unease within the NCP first family.
Another irritant for the Ajit camp was the entry of Sharad’s grandnephew Rohit Pawar into politics. Rohit contested and won the 2019 Assembly elections from Karjat Jamkhed.
Weeks before the 2019 Assembly elections, Ajit had broken down in public over the Enforcement Directorate naming him and Sharad in a money laundering case, claiming he was hurt, resigning as MLA and going incommunicado.
Sharad Pawar’s decision to step back from contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections was said to have stemmed from Ajit’s insistence on fielding his son, Parth, from Maval. Parth’s loss is believed to have added to the bad blood.
In 2019 Ajit Pawar finally drew the courage to break away from his uncle to form a short-lived government with the BJP. While Sharad Pawar managed to outwit his nephew and was instrumental in bringing him back to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, his recent decision, announcing his retirement has once again thrown spotlight on the NCP and the Pawar clan.
