Mumbai: In the six decades of his illustrious political career— Sharad Pawar has earned sobriquets like ‘Maratha strongman’, ‘Chanakya’, 'Machiavelli' and ‘Bheeshma Pitamaha’ of Indian politics.
The split in the 25-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that he founded in 1999 left him shocked and his nephew Ajit Pawar joining the BJP-led NDA left him shattered.
But 'Saheb', as Pawar (83) is popularly addressed, is known for his will-power and resolve to fight and hit back with full force.
During the July 2, 2023 rebellion, when reporters asked who the “reliable face” in the NCP is, Pawar raised his hand and said “Sharad Pawar”.
This moment was compared to the October 18, 2019 rally in Satara, when the rain-soaked photo of Pawar addressing a rally went viral on social media platforms.
Pawar lost the “real NCP party” and the iconic ‘clock’ symbol to Ajit Pawar and now he commands NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and ‘man-blowing-tutari’ symbol.
As part of Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A), the NCP (SP) contested just 10 seats of the 48 seats in Maharashtra and won eight seats.
After the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, Pawar crafted the MVA with Congress and Uddhav Thackeray, who then headed the undivided Shiv Sena.
This was the best-ever performance of Pawar since the formation of NCP in terms of the strike-rate.
“He is the man of the series. His name is Sharad Pawar,” wrote NCP (SP) leader and MLA Dr Jitendra Awhad and posted a video of him bowing down before the veteran politician.
In 1999, just months after the NCP was formed, the party won six seats.
After the 1999 polls when the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls were held together, the NCP sealed a deal with Congress and formed Democratic Front, which later fought all the Lok Sabha polls together.
In 2004, the NCP won nine seats, while in 2009, it won eight, in 2014 four and in 2019 four seats.
“Winning eight seats after contesting just 10 seats is a remarkable performance...it's the best strike rate for the party since its formation,” says veteran political analyst and commentator Prakash Akolkar about the NCP (SP)’s electoral performance.
On the other hand, Ajit Pawar-led NCP fought in four seats and managed one win with Sunil Tatkare retaining the Raigad seat.
The newly-elected MPs of NCP (SP) are Supriya Sule (Baramati), Dr Amol Kolhe (Shirur), Ranjitsinh Mohite-Patil (Madha), Nilesh Lanke (Ahmednagar), Bajrang Sonawane (Beed), Amar Kale (Wardha), Bhaskar Bagare (Dindori-ST) and Suresh Mhatre alias Balya Mama (Bhiwandi).
It won seats from all regions— Konkan, Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha.
Despite his health issues and age, Pawar addressed several rallies across the state even as he constantly boosted the morale of I.N.D.I.A at a pan-India level.
The biggest challenge for Pawar came in the hometurf of Baramati where Ajit Pawar fielded his wife Sunetra Pawar against three-time sitting MP Supriya Sule, but the latter won with a good margin.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis launched scathing attacks at Pawar, but he did not lose cool. Modi even referred to him as “bhatakti aatma” - which did not go down well across Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar, who is now NCP President and Praful Patel, the NCP Working President, too targeted Pawar repeatedly.
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