Detractors in Congress denied Sharad Pawar PM post twice: Praful Patel

On Sharad Pawar’s 80th birthday, NCP leader Praful Patel makes the revelation in an article in Shiv Sena mouthpiece; Congress mum on allegations

On two occasions, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar had the opportunity to become prime minister, but was denied by his detractors in Congress, said NCP leader Praful Patel in an article written on the occasion of Pawar’s 80th birthday. The article was published by Shiv Sena mouthpiece, Saamana, on Saturday.

In 1997, after Congress president Sitaram Kesari withdrew support of Deve Gowda government, Praful Patel said 125 Congress MPs had gathered at Pawar’s residence in a show of support. However, Pawar chose to prevent a split in Congress. (HT File)

“After Rajiv Gandhi’s unfortunate death during the Lok Sabha elections of 1991, the Congress party was in a state of shock. There was a demand to make Pawar party president to handle the situation, but some drawing room politicians conspired to block this. They did not want a strong leadership for the party and made PV Narasimha Rao the Congress president,” Patel wrote in the article.

“After the results of Lok Sabha elections, Congress was close to forming a majority [in Parliament] and again there was a demand to choose Pawar as prime minister. However, the same people [as before] misused Sonia Gandhi’s name to make Rao the Prime Minister,” he further wrote.

“There has been a conspiracy against Pawar since 1989 when he was chief minister of Maharashtra. I have witnessed how conspiracies were hatched against him in Delhi. I have seen how he lost the prime ministership when he was within striking distance of it,” Patel wrote in the article, adding that Rao was prejudiced against Pawar.

Patel also wrote about the 1996 Lok Sabha elections in the article. “Congress won 145 seats. HD Deve Gowda, Mulayam Singh Yadav and leaders of the Left had shown willingness to be part of the government if Pawar replaced Rao as Congress nominee for prime minister. Rao was not willing and so Congress had to extend outside support to Deve Gowda,” Patel has claimed.

Later in 1997, after Congress president Sitaram Kesari withdrew support of Deve Gowda government, Patel says 125 Congress MPs had gathered at Pawar’s residence in a show of support. However, Pawar chose to prevent a split in Congress. “It was the second time that he lost an opportunity to get the prime ministership,” Patel has written. In the article, Patel has also written that Pawar was continuously targeted by his detractors in Congress, which led to Pawar floating NCP.

At the time of going to press, Congress had not issued any official response to Patel’s allegations.

On condition of anonymity, a senior Congress leader and former Union minister said, “In 1991, the party’s top brass wanted a nominee who had experience of handling Central government portfolios. Rao and Arjun Singh were the frontrunners. As such Rao was chosen. Pawar had returned to the Congress just a few years ago so the top brass was not comfortable with him. They also considered the fact that the majority of newly-elected MPs of the party were from the south.” On the decisions taken after the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress leader said, “Congress had lost the election and the third front parties had more MPs than us. So the party decided to respect the mandate and support Deve Gowda.”

Significantly, in an article published in Marathi daily Loksatta on Saturday, veteran Congress leader Ulhas Pawar said that Pawar could have reached the highest positions in Congress and at the Centre had he remained with the party. He has also appealed Pawar to return to Congress’s fold.