Pawar-watching is a popular political sport in Maharashtra. Practising as well as retired bureaucrats, politicians from all parties and of course mediapersons analyse and debate in pubs, clubs and drawing rooms Sharad Pawar’s moves and manoeuvres, his acts of commission and omission and whether he has any chance of becoming prime minister. Pawar knows that there is a constant focus on whatever he does and enjoys being at the centre of the conversation, particularly among the elite. He has been the PM-in-waiting for a long time now. But he hasn’t given up nor have his followers. Ever since Deve Gowda became PM, Pawar’s acolytes have been saying that the Maratha strongman has been denied his ‘natural’ claim to the top job.

To achieve what he considers ‘natural’, Pawar has been building ties across the political spectrum. His camaraderie with the socialists and the communists is well known since his young days in the Rashtra Seva Dal — the youth front of the socialist party. But what baffles the comrades is his bonhomie with Balasaheb Thackeray and his personal friendship with senior leaders of the BJP. Pawar was able to form a Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) in 1978 in which there were members of the Sangh Parivar as well as the socialists. At the time, he had quit the Congress led by Indira Gandhi and formed his own outfit, Congress (S). Euphemistically it was known as Congress-socialist, but people said that ‘S’ stood for Sharad.

Pawar is currently in the headlines because of his ‘strategic alliance’ with the Shiv Sena. Ostensibly, the alliance is limited to the Pune corporation, but its ramifications extend far beyond. Sena leaders did not even discuss their new partnership with their ally, BJP. The Sena leadership is confident that the BJP will not rock the boat on this question because the senior leaders of the Parivar have always regarded the NCP as their reserve force.

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