Pawar and Congress: How they hate to love each other

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s recent statements on Rafale controversy have kicked up a row. Speaking to a Marathi news channel last week, Pawar said people do not see Prime Minister Narendra Modi with suspicion in Rafale deal. However, the way the Centre is unwilling to reveal the details is creating doubts. It should appoint a joint parliamentary committee to probe the deal, Pawar opined.

Following the media reports, Tariq Anwar, one of the founders of the NCP, quit the party. Pawar on Monday sought to clear the air while speaking at a party event in Beed (in Central Maharashtra). Pawar said he has not given clean chit to Modi, but also made it clear that he would not make any personal allegations (against the PM) since he doesn’t have any evidence about it. This is now open for interpretation for others.

The NCP leaders are insisting that their boss has not given a clean chit to Modi and has actually supported the Congress and Rahul Gandhi’s stand by demanding a probe by a joint parliamentary committee in the Rafale deal.

There is a sizeable section of Congress leaders in Maharashtra who don’t trust Pawar. In the past few months, as Pawar was seen hobnobbing with Congress president Rahul Gandhi and even playing his part in bringing opposition parties together for a front against the BJP, several Congress leaders suspected the Maratha strongman was up to something. They are now pointing out how Pawar’s ‘clean chit’ to Modi is an indication that he cannot be trusted.

At the time when Rafale deal is becoming a talking point, and when for the first time the Congress has found something to train guns directly at Modi, Pawar has tried to puncture the Congress’ offensive, they say.

Will this create a problem in the proposed grand alliance of opposition parties in Maharashtra? Going by the current mood in both the Congress and the NCP camps, it is unlikely. Top Congress leaders in the state are convinced that Pawar is determined to wrest power from BJP-Shiv Sena. Having power in Maharashtra makes a lot of difference for him in national politics, they think.

Little wonder, while NCP tried to do the damage control, the Congress leaders chose not to react immediately to Pawar’s statements. It looks like both the sides are willing to go ahead with their plans. It won’t be difficult for both the parties. From 1999 to 2014, both the parties were together and despite their differences ruled the state for three terms in a row.

And then, Pawar and the Congress have always shared love-hate relation. He started as a Congress legislator in 1967. He quit the party in 1978 to form his government in the state with Janata Party that had come to power following Indira Gandhi led Congress’ defeat in elections.

After being an opponent of the Congress for quite some time, Pawar returned to the party in 1987 when Rajiv Gandhi was leading it. He was expelled from the party in 1999 after he raised the issue of then party president Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin. He then floated the NCP. The same year, as the assembly elections in Maharashtra threw a fractured mandate, Pawar chose to align with Congress.

In 2004, he joined the Congress led United Progressive Alliance which remained in power till 2014. Post-2014, Pawar was friendly with PM Modi and even helped his party when needed—be it forming government in Maharashtra after it didn’t get majority in the assembly polls or extending support on crucial issues in the Rajya Sabha. Now after a gap of four years, he is again positioning himself as an ally of the Congress. Considering such a chequered history between the Congress and Pawar, nothing that happens in the coming days will be surprising.

That’s why, what Pawar says about PM Modi could be open for interpretation. It could mean Pawar wants to keep options open. It could also mean he doesn’t want the Congress to take him for granted.

First Published: Oct 01, 2018 23:47 IST