Sharad Pawar’s life updates
In the eye of a political storm at the moment, the veteran leader’s revised autobiography offers a glimpse into the workings of his mind
On May 2, the crowd gathered at the YB Chavan Centre Auditorium in south Mumbai was expecting to return home with a copy of Sharad Pawar’s updated Marathi autobiography, Lok Maze Sangati (People Are My Companions). Instead, the 82-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader sent everyone into a frenzy when he announced his resignation from the post of party president. Though the resignation has since been rescinded, the updated book has the veteran leader’s thoughts about various political events that have rocked Maharashtra since it was last published in 2015. It also contains his opinions on various politicians, including his nephew Ajit, former Maharashtra CM and coalition partner Uddhav Thackeray, prime minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, as well as his views on the ordinary Indian’s steadfastness and commitment to democracy. Read on.

Modi believes in “shock treatment”
In his book, Pawar has written in detail about his opinion on the PM’s style of functioning.
“Attacking the opponents forcefully and defeating them without giving them any chance. It was evident in the 2014 campaign and later after he came to power. It has not changed even after he became prime minister,” Pawar wrote.
“In Modi's style of functioning, shock treatment has a special place. It is not only opponents but even party colleagues who get a shock, which is a speciality of his style. So instead of discussing the merits or demerits of his decisions, the whole debate is centred around the question, ‘how did it happen’,” Pawar wrote.
He also criticised the PM and wrote, “The lack of dialogue … became evident in the years later. Demonetisation was a classic example. The decision was taken without consulting not just the Parliament but even his colleagues in the government or in the party.”
The current atmosphere is one of confrontation rather than communication, Pawar said. All channels of dialogue are closing down. “After he took over as PM, initially Modi used to speak with me but later the dialogue stopped. The tradition now is to speak with those who won't raise any troublesome issue.”
Was not aware of Ajit's plan to go with BJP
Pawar came to know about his nephew Ajit Pawar's plan to side with the BJP in 2019 only minutes before the rushed morning swearing-in ceremony on November 23 that year.
Ajit agreed to be Devendra Fadnavis’s deputy, and took the oath in an early morning ceremony. The BJP-NCP government, however, didn’t last long, as the senior Pawar’s efforts to cobble up a coalition of the Congress and the Sena (which had split from the BJP following a post-poll showdown) resulted in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) formation that had the numbers needed to form the government. Fadnavis’ government lasted 80 hours as most of the NCP MLAs chose to stay with senior Pawar. NCP leaders indicated that the decision was taken to get President's rule lifted and Pawar may well have been in the loop.
However, Pawar made it clear that he was not aware of his nephew’s actions.
“I got a call around 6.30 am about some NCP MLAs reaching Raj Bhavan and Ajit giving NCP's letter of support to BJP. This was a shock for me. Something like this happening when NCP was taking the initiative to form an MVA government posed a question mark on our credibility."
Pawar said that the first call he made after learning of this was to Uddhav Thackeray, to tell him that the NCP was not with Ajit.
What prompted Ajit’s 2019 rebellion
Though Pawar did not spell out the reasons why Ajit rebelled against him, it was likely caused by the adamant stand taken by the Congress during the MVA’s initial talks.
The Congress leaders adopted an adamant stand on several issues which created problems,
Pawar pointed out in the book.
"In one particular meeting, even I could not control myself and I left, as I thought there was no point in talking. I told my party colleagues to continue. Later when I called Jayant Patil to find out what happened, he told me even Ajit had left immediately after me. However, I did not think Ajit would do anything. Ajit is sentimental and he may have taken the step in the heat of the moment,” Pawar wrote.
Uddhav Thackeray lacked political acumen
Pawar has written how Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray was chosen to be the chief minister in the MVA coalition to ensure the stability of the three-party government. During the Covid epidemic, his communication with the people through social media was appreciated by the middle class, Pawar said. However, he added that Thackeray faced limitations due to his physical health. The fact that he went only twice to the Mantralaya while he was CM did not go down well among the political class. Taking appointments with him was subject to his health and his appointments with doctors.
“The head of the state should have a keen grasp on everything that is happening in his state. He should also have the political acumen to anticipate what would happen tomorrow and hence what steps should be taken today. We found that Uddhav was lacking in it,” he wrote. ‘In politics, one has to move fast to retain power. In the political crisis, he backed out in the first round itself,” Pawar wrote, about the internal struggle that left the Sena divided into two groups following a rebellion by Eknath Shinde.
MVA was BJP’s biggest challenge
The MVA government was an answer to BJP's tendency of establishing its dominance in states by suppressing other regional parties and reducing their importance using all means, said Pawar. The MVA government was the biggest challenge to the BJP in the country, he wrote. He also said that he knew that there would be attempts to destabilise the government. “We were capable of handling such attempts at our level. We did not anticipate that there would be a storm within the Shiv Sena after making Uddhav Thackeray chief minister. The Sena leadership failed to handle the rebellion in its party. The MVA lost power as Uddhav resigned without a fight.”
BJP tried to form the government with NCP after the 2014 assembly polls
The BJP had held “informal discussions” to form the state government following the 2014 polls, but he was not involved in that process, Pawar revealed. “Since we were not interested in it, we decided not to go ahead. It was also decided to tell this outright to the BJP to prevent misunderstanding.” Accordingly, Pawar met Modi during a session of the Parliament and apprised him of the NCP's decision.
In the 2014 assembly elections held six months after Narendra Modi formed the government at the centre, BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state, with 122 seats. All four parties contested separately. Shiv Sena won 63 seats, Congress 42 seats, the NCP 41 seats, and Independents and smaller parties won 20 seats. BJP needed 23 more seats for a simple majority (145 in a House of 288). At the time, Sena played hardball, and sought a bigger share of power than the BJP was offering. The two saffron parties eventually went on to form the government.
Rahul is a serious politician
Though Pawar is critical of the Congress in his book, he has called it the fulcrum of opposition unity. The party has been on a decline since 2014, when the BJP first came to power in the Centre. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi showed the flexibility needed for coalition politics, but Rahul was initially not keen on it. “His (Rahul) consistency was also a concern for Congress and us. Congress had to pay for that. However, his Bharat Jodo Yatra has conveyed a message that he is a serious politician. His earlier childish image among the people has changed,” Pawar wrote.
Rahul has also created confidence among Congress workers, Pawar said, and the yatra that he undertook last year, across the country, created an impression that the Congress still has pan-India support. “The response he got was encouraging for Congress. One of the reasons why he got such a response was that the people got an opportunity to express their unhappiness with the Central government."
One more impact is the positive change in the way Congress leadership communicates and contacts other parties. There seem to be conscious efforts to take other parties along. “They spoke to us after the Bharat Jodo Yatra programme was finalised. Leaders of other parties also participated in the Yatra in various states. Congress also seems to be paying attention to the party organisation. Dialogue with other parties would be better with [Mallikarjun] Kharge becoming party president. Two years ago, it was being said that Congress was finished, but its revival has begun,” Pawar wrote.
Indians will never accept majoritarian rule
Pawar said that while the BJP wants a “majoritarian rule” in India, the people do not want this. “The BJP is trying to impose a majoritarian rule. It can be successful for some time. Has it been accepted by the people? The answer is no.” Pawar said that he observed that the Muslim community in India has refused to get trapped by this. "There is fear and concern in the community but it is not in favour of an outbreak of emotions. Muslim youths are avoiding extreme reactions, that's what I feel.”

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