In politics, if keeping everyone, friend and foe alike, guessing is an art, sharad pawar can easily be described as a teacher. Pawar’s seemingly unexpected announcement to resign the presidency of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Tuesday morning may have left his supporters and competitors alike baffled and shocked, not surprising coming from a man who is known for his ability to kill many birds with one stone.
pawar He was speaking at an event at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital, the institute he founded in memory of his mentor and Maharashtra’s first chief minister, organized to publish his political biography. Addressing the meeting, Pawar recalled the history of the state from the day he was born on May 1, 1960, in true slow-motion style of his own. He walked down memory lane chronicling his political journey to date and towards the end; in typical nonchalant fashion and announced the decision to resign as head of the PNC.
Pawar’s announcement not only took the assembled NCP leaders and workers by surprise, it took even large numbers of media people a while to realize that what they were witnessing was ‘breaking news’. . If the cricket analogy is to be used, Pawar’s move may be referred to as a ‘googly’ or a ‘doosra’. With this move, Pawar has elevated himself above his shaky team beleaguered by a series of sorties and constant poaching by the BJP. His resignation also creates an invisible wall around him that the opposition will find difficult to penetrate. Difficult, because he can no longer be held responsible for NCP’s misdeeds, if any.
Taking NCP out of Pawar can be like taking Tata out of JRD or Ratan. From now on his position will be as ‘president emeritus’. But at the same time,
will not be involved in the day-to-day activities of the party. In addition, the status of “president emeritus” will give him the freedom he wanted to project himself as a “statesman” who can resign from the leadership of a party that he himself founded.
In the Indian political context, respect for anyone who voluntarily resigns from the leader’s chair, the so-called tyag, is multiplied. Maharashtra is ready to witness this. With this lofty stature, Pawar will gain more space and authority in his efforts to unite non-BJP parties. With state Assembly votes and general elections just around the corner, a free and ‘non-political’ Pawar will be more potent for the Opposition than being a mere party leader.
Another unseen but certainly not unintended target of Pawar’s movement is a group of NCP leaders rumored to be in contact with the BJP. The biggest suspect was his nephew Ajit Pawar. The angry young man from the NCP was believed to be plotting some sort of rebellion against his uncle, apparently trying to free himself from the shadows of his more illustrious uncle. A few other names were also circulating along with Ajit as potential defectors. In a way, Ajitdada had every reason to be upset or disenchanted with the PNC. Although he shares the last name of the NCP founders, there is almost nothing in common between the two. Plus the reality that he will always have to play second fiddle to Sharad Pawar.
But by stepping down as party chairman, Pawar has thrown down the gauntlet to all NCP members who aspired to play a major role. It will be politically suicidal to defect from now on, as that will incur the ire of NCP supporters. Announcing his resignation under the glare of the media and while he was in the midst of a large crowd of party workers, Pawar pushed an emotional button so overwhelming that his lieutenants froze. Until now, it was the deputy of Pawar’s daughter, Supriya Sule, who strove to keep the herd intact, henceforth, it will also be equally the responsibility of Ajit and the others.
To the uninitiated, Pawar’s move may seem shocking. But for the man who has written many of these surprises in his eventful more than six decades of political career, the decision to step down as party chief was anything but shocking.
The writer is Editor, Loksatta