Sharad Pawar turns 78, looks to regain importance in national politics

Sensing that road to return to power may not be easy, Pawar off late has been touring the state extensively and meeting people

Three days ago, Sharad Pawar during his Pune tour said that to counter Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), there is a need for a grand alliance at the national level for which he will be attending a meeting of all opposition parties in New Delhi. Pawar’s reiteration on opposition parties jointly contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, was yet another attempt to remain a key player in Indian politics.

As Pawar turns 78 on Thursday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president is taking extra efforts to make a comeback to centre-stage in national politics. (Photo by Kunal Patil / Hindustan Times)

As Pawar turns 78 on Thursday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president is taking extra efforts to make a comeback to centre-stage in national politics. “I have suggested Congress to give importance to regional parties in their respective states while forging national alliance,” Pawar said in Pune on Sunday. Accordingly, the meeting of 21 parties was held in New Delhi on Monday where everyone agreed to work out an ‘action plan’ to take on BJP.

Out of power both at the Centre and the state, Pawar with more than five decades of experience in electoral politics and NCP are trying their best to make a comeback, though their efforts have not borne results yet. The outcome of two civic bodies in Maharashtra has been a dampener for NCP, which has only four MPs in Lok Sabha and 41 MLAs in the state.

When Pawar turned 75, his party had ensured that it was a grand affair with leaders of various political parties including the Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the event, which was organised at New Delhi’s Vidyan Bhavan.

This year, NCP has decided not to celebrate Pawar’s birthday on a massive scale given the drought parts of Maharashtra is facing. “Party workers have been asked not to celebrate the birthday and instead engage in constructive work,” said Ankush Kakade, NCP spokesperson.

Pawar has undergone two surgeries during his treatment for oral cancer and he has shown a surprising ability to overcome the ailment. The three-time chief minister and a former union agriculture minister who has served for the longest duration, Pawar has not hid his proximity to political rival Narendra Modi with whom he has publicly shared platform multiple times.

“The upcoming Lok Sabha election and the subsequent assembly election will be crucial for Pawar and his NCP. It is actually his last chance to make it once again at the national-level after losing power in 2014,” said Prakash Pawar, professor of political science at Shivaji University.

Sensing that road to return to power may not be easy, Pawar off late has been touring the state extensively and meeting people. During his 77th birthday, Pawar took to the streets in Nagpur, considered to be Maharashtra’s second capital, and led a protest march of farmers to press loan waiver demand. The NCP chief also exhorted farmers not to pay electricity bills.

However the man of all seasons realizes that without an alliance involving Congress, it will be difficult to dislodge the BJP government at the Centre and in the state. “The efforts to form a grand alliance to defeat BJP are on. The meeting of opposition parties has been organised in Delhi which I will also be attending. The anti-BJP front is the necessity of the hour,” said Pawar. He however had an advice to Congress not to exert the big-brother attitude saying “proper seat sharing formula based on the individual strength” of regional parties is needed.