Embattled Pawar readying new frontline leaders

With most senior leaders gone with Ajit, NCP chief leans on young sharp orators and sons of some of the old guard

MUMBAI: In 1995, after the Congress party lost power in Maharashtra to the BJP-Shiv Sena combine, the party was left in a disarray—with most senior leaders afraid to attack the saffron combine for fear of reprisal from central agencies or on account of their own internal differences. Sharad Pawar, then Maharashtra in-charge of the Congress, decided to back a new generation of young legislators who would take on the government on a raft of issues. Partly as a result of this tactic, five years later the Congress was back in power in 1999 led by Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Pawar, now in his winter years, finds himself treading old ground with one difference. (HT Photo)

Among those MLAs whom Sharad Pawar groomed then were RR Patil, Jayant Patil, Dilip Walse-Patil, Sunil Tatkare and Digvijay Khanvilkar. All of them also went on to become frontline leaders when Pawar split the Congress to form the NCP before forming an alliance government with the Congress.

Pawar, now in his winter years, finds himself treading old ground with one difference. This time he is forced to do so after Ajit Pawar split the NCP, taking with him most of the erstwhile young Turks that Pawar had groomed nearly 30 years ago. Best known among the young leaders the Maratha is grooming is his grand-nephew Rohit Pawar. The astute 38-year-old MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed is preparing to traverse the state on foot to mobilise the youth ahead of next year’s general and assembly polls.

Another young face being trained by Pawar as the NCP faces an existential crisis is yet another Rohit, the 24-year-old son of former deputy chief minister RR Patil who died in 2015. The two Rohits often address rallies together, and Patil, thought to be his dad’s spitting image, is likely to be the candidate from Tasgaon assembly constituency of Sangli district in 2024 assembly elections, a seat once represented by RR Patil.

But it’s not just Maratha leaders who are being groomed by Pawar. Young Sakshna Salgar who is becoming known for her fiery oratory is from the Dhangar community which comprises close to 10 per cent of the population in the state. Salgar leads the Nationalist Yuvati Congress, the women’s youth wing of the NCP, and she is a zilla parishad member from Osmanabad district. The buzz in the party is that she will likely represent NCP in the assembly polls from the constituency this time. She had been inducted in the manifesto committee in the last elections and had been asked to give inputs on what young female voters expected from political parties.

Recently, she participated a ‘gratitude’ programme along with other leaders for Pawar’s work in quake-affected Latur 30 years ago. “A crowd of 25,000 gathered despite heavy rains the previous night. It showed that there are people who believe in Pawar saheb’s leadership, and don’t necessarily run towards power,” she says.

According to NCP insiders, another young female leader being groomed by Pawar is Pooja More who was at the forefront of the Maratha reservation protests in 2017. She is being asked to address increasing number of party gatherings. In 2024, More is likely to contest from one of the six assembly constituencies in Beed where she comes from.

Pawar is also looking at another promising face from the same district who is already an MLA, Sandeep Kshirsagar. The 42-year-old pitched his tent in the Sharad Pawar camp when several other prominent leaders chose to go with Ajit Pawar. Sandeep who comes from the Teli community was in the limelight when Pawar visited Beed to hold a grand rally after the split in the party in August. Kshirsagar’s home there was attacked and torched when the Maratha protests went out of hand late last month putting the government on the backfoot.

Another party MLA Sunil Bhusara has also been pulled onto the first rung of leadership following the split in NCP. Bhusara represents the tribal community and was elected from Vikramgad assembly constituency in Palghar district. The candidates he backed for the gram panchayat elections recently have all done well.

Pawar is known to identify potential future leaders, and after they are shown right from wrong, he makes the leaders a part of the decision making body to make them understand the functioning of the party. He also gives them opportunities to experience different situations, NCP insiders said.

“Those who went with Ajit Dada (Pawar) are established leaders who also run cooperative sugar mills and banks and are thus afraid to come under the scanner of central investigation agencies. They needed to stay in power,” points out a senior NCP functionary. But the split has also created an opportunity for younger leaders in the NCP to rise to the vanguard of the party, he adds. “These are young leaders with no baggage who can stand up to the BJP.”

Among the young Maratha leaders being promoted by Pawar are Ravikant Varpe, Rakhi Jadhav, Sunil Gavhane and Salil Deshmukh. Varpe is the party’s spokesperson and heads its youth wing. He is part of Rohit Pawar’s Yuva Sangharsh Yatra and is likely to contest assembly polls from Pimpri Chinchwad. Rakhi heads the Mumbai unit and is also a corporator from Ghatkopar. She may contest the upcoming assembly elections from Mumbai.

Gavhane is Maharashtra president of NCP’s students’ wing, and may be asked to contest from Shirur in the assembly elections. Salil who is the son of former home minister Anil Deshmukh had won the Nagpur zilla parishad elections in January 2020. He is likely to contest the assembly polls from Nagpur. Besides them, Nilesh Raut, former chief of the students’ wing, Mehboob Shaikh also of the youth wing are all thought to be promising, said a senior NCP insider.

“We see the yatra as an opportunity for youngsters like us to rebuild the party. In this struggle of ours, our biggest hope remains Pawar saheb,” says Varpe.

With 40 out of its 53 MLAs switching loyalty to Ajit Pawar, and a few more expected to follow suit, the quick rise of a younger generation of leaders is imperative for the continuation of both, the NCP as a party and Sharad Pawar as a leader of consequence in 2024.

Suraj Chavan, state president of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s youth wing said it has become a compulsion for the opposing faction to groom new leaders as they have lost most of their seniors. “They have no other option but to promote young faces because all the senior leaders have come with us. However, these young leaders have no support from the people. They are active only on social media and will not be seen after elections in 2024,” Chavan said.