Pawar shoots himself in the foot, again!

Sharad Pawar either has a clear communication problem — even in Marathi — or he overshoots the mark, invariably shooting himself in the foot. By and large most of his supporters put up with his mercurial statement changes because they have no choice.

Sharad Pawar either has a clear communication problem — even in Marathi — or he overshoots the mark, invariably shooting himself in the foot. By and large most of his supporters put up with his mercurial statement changes because they have no choice. But after his support to demonetisation in 2016, he was arm-twisted by many of his supporters into withdrawing that endorsement because demonetisation had badly affected farmers and co-operative banks and that is where the NCP’s core support base lay. It has taken the NCP, and Pawar, nearly two years to regain the confidence of these voters and now he seems to have thrown it all away again by telling a Marathi news channel that he does not hold Narendra Modi personally responsible for the Rafale deal.

Sharad Pawar at his resident in Mumbai. (HT Photo)

All his supporters were shocked and jumped into damage-control mode. But it was already too late. The blow came from within — from NCP founder-member Tariq Anwar who was the Akbar of the trio along with PA Sangma, who was the Anthony (but broke with the party long before his death). Pawar was the Amar of the NCP (that’s how they initially promoted themselves to establish the Hindu-Muslim-Christian amity in the country). Anwar jumped ship and resigned not just from the party but also his Lok Sabha seat in protest.

Now I think that it is no big sacrifice given there are less than six months and probably just one session to go this term of the parliament. It is also obvious that Anwar was itching to quit the NCP, which has no presence in his home state of Bihar. Anwar would have to be dependent on either the Congress or Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal to win his next election in a state where there are many Muslim and Dalit voters who have been thoroughly pulverized by the current regime and may not appreciate any flirtation with the ruling party. Anwar was merely covering his flanks by quitting the NCP and given the appreciation he has received from both the Congress and the RLD, he has made sure he is home and dry.

But in the process he has caused tremendous damage to Pawar and the NCP. Although Pawar may know well enough the reasons why Anwar had to quit the NCP, this is the first time he has had to face the public ignominy of a metaphorical slap in the face by a leader of his own party. Anwar wasted no time in seeking or waiting for a clarification and Pawar’s problem now is that many upset grassroots workers too are thinking of taking a leaf out of Anwar’s book. Many have been thinking of joining the Congress for months but have been held back only by the Congress’s own uncertainty and fear of upsetting Pawar’s applecart. But now the opportunity has fallen into their lap as well and Anwar’s exit could well have a domino effect on NCP workers who are convinced that the BJP is losing ground and there can be no reason to flirt with its leaders at this crucial stage in the nation’s politics.

Perhaps that is why Pawar, at a rally in Beed on Monday, clarified he had never given anyone a clean chit. All that he had asked for was a JPC to establish the truth before making any personal allegations. Pawar’s supporters are blaming a hostile media for editing his statements out of context. But if that is true, I wonder at Pawar’s naivete in not recognising the mischief that might have been afoot and should have left no ambiguity about his remarks.

Pawar obviously thought he could control the narrative just like he thought he could in 1993 when a small municipal officer called G R Khairnar claimed he had a truckload of evidence against Pawar’s alleged criminal connections. Instead of denying Khairnar’s claims or taking action against the man, Pawar thought the people will not believe a municipal officer over a powerful chief minister.

But they did. And Pawar’s future was marred forever.

However, those were the days before social media. News now travels much faster and, like Chinese whispers, gets twisted along the way. Admittedly, Pawar as a veteran knows best. But now social media always knows better than most of us do. So Pawar had better watch his words. Or get tripped up each time he does not even put a foot wrong. No one has time for clarifications anymore, not even Pawar’s own party men and supporters!