MUMBAI: Huge placards with Sharad Pawar’s image and a message written in Marathi “Jikad Mhatar Firtay, Tikad Changbhal Hotay” (wherever the old man goes, victory follows) were ubiquitous at NCP(SP)’s rallies. It turned out to be a hollow slogan as the Maratha chieftain faced his biggest electoral defeat as counting closed on Saturday.
It will hurt the man who was the youngest CM of Maharashtra at the age of 38 even more that Ajit, a nephew he groomed, one who later defected, did stunningly well and ended up taking not only the party name and symbol, but also his political legacy.
In Baramati, a constituency synonymous with Pawar political clout, he could not make another of his nephews, Yugendra, win. The latter became the first contestant since 1967 to have lost the Baramati assembly seat despite Pawar Sr’s blessings. Gallingly, Ajit Pawar’s NCP eroded Pawar’s power base in the sugar bowl of Western Maharashtra, too.
Known as a political strategist par excellence with a keen sense of people’s pulse, he seemed to totally miscalculate this election. On Friday, a day before results, during a meeting within MVA leaders, Pawar told Congress and Sena (UBT) leaders that MVA will win a majority and form the government. The MVA didn’t cross double digits, finally.
While some Pawar supporters argued that NCP (SP)’s overall vote share was better than that of Ajit’s NCP, the damage was done. “More than the loss of seats, Pawar’s master strategist status has taken a beating and that will hurt,” an NCP leader told TOI.
Pawar was undoubtedly the chief strategist and campaign-in-chief for the MVA during the polls. No one can rob the octogenarian of the spirited fight he fought despite his health issues. He addressed 55 campaign rallies and made every attempt to set a narrative against Mahayuti, but failed.
In his political career spanning six decades Pawar has witnessed similar defeats, and his miscalculations have even cost him the opportunity to have a go at the PM’s post. Defections and defeats are not new to him.
Hence, on November 18, addressing an election rally in Solapur, Pawar recalled that in 1980, 53 of his 55 MLAs deserted him and switched to then CM late A R Antulay’s side. “I rebuilt the party. And none of these defectors won the next election,” he proudly mentioned.
Pawar, who will turn 84 next month on December 12, was 40 years old then. Age is not on his side, now.
He, also, is no longer the Maratha strongman of 1980 –several Maratha leaders, the regional satraps who were once his staunch loyalists, have walked into the saffron fold, including his own nephew. Pawar Sr, thus, no longer has a monopoly on Maratha votes or leaders. BJP has made inroads into his bastion.
You will write him off at your own peril, though. Even his critics believe that the octogenarian will aim to turn back the clock. Retirement is not the word to be found in his dictionary. This is not how he wants his end game to be. As the popular movie dialogue goes, “picture abhi baaki hai.”