Mumbai: Dressed in his trademark and iconic crisp spotless white half-shirt and white trousers, two pilot pens in the pocket, a white round-dial watch and usually a file in his left hand, Sharad Pawar, the veteran politician is ready every morning. Then he has a day packed with meetings and events and also one-one-one closed-door sessions.
This has been a sort of routine for the veteran politician for over six decades.
On Tuesday, when he celebrates his 83rd birthday, the routine would be the same - and it's going to be a working day for Pawar, the founder-President of Nationalist Congress Party, which he launched 25 years ago.
Pawar Saheb, as he is affectionately called, will be in Nagpur on Tuesday, where he will attend the function when his grand-nephew and Karjat Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar completes the Sangharsh Yatra, aimed to highlight the issues of the youth.
The event coincides with the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature, currently being held in the state’s winter capital of Nagpur.
In the six decades of his political career – Pawar, born December 12, 1940, has earned sobriquets like ‘Maratha strongman’, ‘Chanakya’, 'Machiavelli' and ‘Bheeshma Pitamaha’ of Indian politics.
Pawar had started public life on May 1, 1960. On February 22, 2022, Pawar completed 55 years in law-making bodies.
Pawar is one of those rare politicians in the country– who never lost a Vidhan Sabha or Lok Sabha election. Pawar had won the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly polls from Baramati in 1967, 1972, 1978, 1980, 1985 and 1990 and Lok Sabha polls from Baramati in 1984, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 and Madha in 2009 two Rajya Sabha elections from his home state of Maharashtra.
The Baramati Lok Sabha seat has been represented for the last three terms by his daughter Supriya Sule.
He has been a four-time Maharashtra Chief Minister and three-time Union Minister having handled portfolios of Defence in the governments led by P V Narasimha Rao and Agriculture in the Dr Manmohan Singh-headed Congress-led UPA government. He had also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, another rare distinction.
Pawar's experience comes from the ground-level experience, unlike the X (Twitter)-Facebook-Instagram approach of modern politicians who are often cut-off from ground realities.
Pawar is the architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the anti-BJP formation in Maharashtra and a key leader of the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc.
The split in the NCP ranks and files in June-July 2023 led by his nephew Ajit Pawar, who switched to the BJP-led NDA camp to become the Deputy Chief Minister alongside BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis in the Eknath Shinde-headed Maha Yuti government, has come as a jolt to him.
In fact, Pawar had sensed rebellion brewing - and on May 2, a day after he completed 63 years in public life, stepped down as NCP President. But because of pressure, he withdrew the resignation but put a succession plan in place. However, on July 2, the split happened.
Pawar, who had handled several crisis, has hit the streets, resurrecting the party in the state and playing a role of consolidating opposition parties at the Centre to take on the BJP.
"The entire team will be in Nagpur on Tuesday to extend best wishes to Saheb," said Clyde Crasto, the national spokesperson of Sharad Pawar-headed NCP.