All his life, Sharad Govindrao Pawar has been his own man. Be it walking out of Congress when defying the Gandhi family was considered to be political suicide or coming out in support of top-notch industrialist Gautam Adani recently thereby running the risk of fracturing anti-BJP alliance, the Maratha strongman has been known for his out-of-the-box decisions. And now the decision of stepping down as the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is in keeping with Pawar’s past actions which for good or bad have kept him in the limelight. Amidst wails of his party activists to reconsider his decision, the man from Baramati has let it be known that his decision to step down as the head honcho of the outfit he founded is not yet final. This is what makes Pawar the shrewdest politician around. He has not closed the door of the passageway leading to the chair of the NCP chief and embarked on a journey to political sunset.
A group of NCP leaders reportedly in touch with the BJP are targeted by Pawar’s decision to resign. He seeks to single out those who would raise even the feeblest voices of protest to his resignation decision. After all, the last thing these persons will wish for is Pawar’s continuance as the NCP supremo. Small wonder, they will not be among the lead singers in the chorus asking him to stay back in his post. Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar’s name figures high in the list of those suspected to be in touch with the saffron camp. There are others too with him and were reported to be chalking out the outlines of a bloodless coup following which it would be Ajit Pawar who would be in NCP’s driver’s seat. The resignation was aimed to scotch the rumour that NCP is heading for a split. Pawar has put in place his nephew Ajit Pawar who nurses the ambition of being the chief minister or at least the NCP chief. How was the junior Pawar to know that after having accepted his uncle’s resignation, Ajit would end up as just one of the 15 committee members tasked with finding out his uncle’s successor?
Thus, Pawar’s resignation retains for him the attribute which friend or foe will never find wanting in him. He remains a game-changer. On the surface, Pawar awards himself with the status of NCP’s chairman emeritus. Together with it, he remains a rare leader who does not care to cling to the leadership of a political outfit he has founded. Thereby, Pawar assigns more elbow room for himself. Moreover, he envelops himself in a halo which would give him greater gravitas in negotiating with non-BJP parties before next year’s Lok Sabha polls. Pawar’s resignation elevates him from the position and status of a one-party supremo. He is placed in the unique position of a statesman. It remains to be seen whether Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the Opposition alliance which Pawar has cobbled together can weather the churning within the NCP. His challenge now will be to convince his followers to stay the course.
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