Victim of his virtues

On my terms: from the grassroots to the corridors of power by Sharad Pawar tiger publishing; Price: Rs.699; Pages: 264 One of post-independence India’s most durable and dominant figures in national politics is Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar. In his long — and still enduring — career as an MP/MLA which began in 1967, Pawar has never lost an election from Baramati (pop. 54,415) or its assembly segments. Perennially in the heart of politics and action, he has served four terms as chief minister of Maharashtra — India’s most industrialised state — and in key ministries at the Centre, including defence and agriculture, for over a decade. After finishing this chronologically complete but typically non-argumentative and non-recriminatory autobiography, the conclusion of this reviewer is that Pawar, now in the twilight of his political career, (narrowly) failed to make it to the prime minister’s office in Delhi for precisely the very qualities which facilitated his rise in politics: his patient listening, consensus-building skills and genuine commitment to democracy. These rare traits were interpreted as lack of will, manipulative capability and not enough steel required to get to the top of the political firmament. Born into a large family, the ninth of 11 children of Sharadabai and Govindrao Pawar, the latter a senior officer in the Neera Canal Cooperative Society, Baramati, Sharad had the good fortune of being blessed with a relatively well-educated (class VII) and politically active mother who, he readily acknowledges, was “the biggest influence” in his life. By this account, Sharadabai who became the first woman to be elected to the Pune Local Board, was a woman of strong political convictions who was a life-long member of the Left-wing Peasants & Workers Party (PWP) despite her husband, as also Sharad, opting to join the Congress. Modestly schooled in Baramati, Sharad received his higher education in the Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce, Pune, where he readily confesses, his prime focus was on extracurricular activities as an elected students’ representative who organised debates, theatre performances and conducted elections in Pune University’s colleges. In 1958, he registered himself as an active member of the Congress party and attracted the attention of Yeshwantrao Chavan, a much-admired politician who two years later, when the Bombay Presidency was divided into the two states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, was appointed the first chief minister of the latter. Given his political activism and organisational abilities, within a short period Sharad was elected secretary of the Pune Youth Congress, secretary of the western Maharashtra youth wing and in 1962, president of the Maharashtra Youth Congress. Five years later, despite stiff opposition, he was elected MLA for the first time from Baramati. This launched his political career, establishing him as a grassroots and party worker, which impressed the Congress leadership. In 1972 at age 32, Pawar was inducted into the state cabinet. Having built a solid foundation, Pawar was on his way to becoming one of the country’s most influential political leaders of the next three decades. It needs to be noted…