JOIN USNCP supremo Sharad Pawar completes 55 years in electoral politics
Dressed in a trademark and iconic spotless white half-shirt and white trousers, with two Pilot pens in his shirt pocket, donning a white round-dial watch and usually carrying a file in his left hand, Sharad Pawar, the founder-President of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is ready early in the mornings.
In the six decades of his political career, he has earned sobriquets like ‘Maratha strongman’, ‘Chanakya’, 'Machiavelli' and ‘Bheeshma Pitamaha’ of Indian politics.
An early riser, Pawar, after a light breakfast, moves out of his Mumbai’s Silver Oak bungalow to his office for meetings, taking umpteen numbers of calls, video conferences and other daily engagements, returning home in the evening after sunset or even later.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and health issues that Pawar faces, he is very active and travels across Maharashtra regularly.
A four-time chief minister and a three-time Union Minister, Pawar is respected by India’s top politicians. On February 22, 2022, Pawar 'saheb', as he is popularly known, completed 55 years in law-making bodies, remarkably never losing an election in all these years.
“Pawar saheb started his journey as the MLA from Baramati exactly 55 years ago during which time he has held numerous positions of power. He has served as a Minister in Maharashtra and in the Union Government, and also as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha,” his daughter Supriya Sule tweeted.
“During his tenure of 55 years, Pawar saheb has taken several progressive decisions which have had an immense positive impact on society. He has been felicitated at both the national and international levels. Saheb is following in the footsteps of the late Yashwantrao Chavan saheb. I congratulate Pawar saheb for completing 55 years in electoral politics and 60 years in public service,” she said.
Pawar is one of those rare politicians in the country to never lose a Vidhan Sabha or Lok Sabha poll. Pawar had won the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls from Baramati in 1967, 1972, 1978, 1980, 1985 and 1990 and Lok Sabha polls from Baramati in 1984, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 and two Rajya Sabha elections from his home state of Maharashtra.
He has been a four-time Maharashtra chief minister and three-time union minister, having handled portfolios of Defence in the governments led by PV Narasimha Rao and Agriculture under Dr Manmohan Singh. He has also served as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, also a rare distinction.
Pawar's experience comes from the ground-level experience, unlike the Twitter-Facebook-Instagram approach of modern politicians who are often cut-off from ground realities.
Pawar perhaps knows the best way to run an alliance government, even with parties of different and diametrically-opposite ideologies.
And this comes from experience: In July 1978, Pawar broke away from the Congress (U) to form a coalition government with the Janata Party. He became the youngest chief minister of Maharashtra when he was just 38. The Progressive Democratic Front government was dismissed in February 1980, following Indira Gandhi's return to power.
Similarly, in 1999, he raised the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi, after which he along with PA Sangama and Tariq Anwar were expelled from the Congress but the same year, the newly-formed NCP and Congress joined hands to form the Democratic Front government that ran for 15 years till 2014. He was also a major binding factor of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre between 2004 and 2014. He again proved his skills in 2019, when the Congress-NCP combine joined hands with Shiv Sena, which it has been fighting for decades, and stitched the MVA to keep BJP out of power.
Now also, he is working towards forging an Opposition unity to take on the BJP.
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