“The Pessimist Sees Difficulty In Every Opportunity. The Optimist Sees Opportunity In Every Difficulty.”

The crux of what Pawar said is that RSS cadres know how to win people’s faith. Pawar moreover has asked NCP and Congress party workers to imbibe some of RSS workers’ qualities. He said, “Learn from RSS swayamsevaks persistence, patience and consistency.” Pawar had expressed similar sentiments after the 2019 Lok Sabha election review meet in Pimpri Chinchwad area of Pune. He had said that the secret of RSS cadre is that they know how to win people’s trust.

Pawar’s astounding backing of Gautam Adani when Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray had taken cudgels against the industrialist or his deriding the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the Adani Group following the Hindenburg Report had come as a shocker for the opposition parties. Earlier and even then, there have been veiled innuendos that he is keeping his option open to go with the BJP.

Pawar’s political sagacity is unbelievable. Out of the blue, he organised the Maha Vikas Aghadi after the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, installing Uddhav as the state chief minister. At that time, he brought the ideologically pole-apart Congress and the Sena by teaming up his own Nationalist Congress Party. At that time, too, his decision had kept many political pundits unaware.

Pawar’s Marathi autobiography, translated as “On My Terms,” fails to explain his political decisions though Pawar has claimed himself as a Congressman at heart. Though true to some extent, Pawar has occasionally deserted the mother party or otherwise adopted a middle path to pursue the practical politics suited for the moment. He has given credit for such flexibility to his upbringing in the Congress.

Time and again, Pawar has shown that he does not believe in political untouchability. When he shifted to Delhi in 1996, he built bridges with diverse political parties and across the political spectrum, making him one of the most friendly politicians who had close relations with industry, business, cultural field and artists. In turn, he is respected by many industrialists, fine art exponents and litterateurs. No wonder, he has been unanimously elected to head the 98th Marathi Sahitya Sammelan to be held in Delhi soon. His invite to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the meet has been accepted with alacrity by the latter. This is one instance of Pawar’s outreach.

In the true sense of the word, Pawar is a realist, who can use an ideology according to his convenience. None can stamp him with any specific colour. For Pawar, politics is not just the art of the possible, he can make the impossible also possible as and when needed. His capacity to cobble seemingly unlikely coalitions was first experienced way back in 1978. Becoming the youngest chief minister of India, Pawar formed the Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) government with his breakaway Congress (S) fraction. It was jacked up by the  Janata Party, the single largest party in the assembly election that year. It was supported by the Peasants and Workers Party of India, the Republican Party,  the Communists and the Muslim League, among others.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis has constantly maintained that Pawar had blessed the BJP’s coalition with NCP leader Ajit Pawar, which led to the formation of the BJP-NCP alliance government in 2019, only to collapse within 72 hours. Later, Pawar and his cronies claimed that it was an arrangement to ensure that President’s Rule was lifted from the state. But the culmination of this trickery was that the MVA could capture power.

Pawar’s firm belief is that there are no permanent friends or foes in life. He has practised this axiom in politics notwithstanding his proximity with the Congress. However, he has proved on many occasions that he can’t be taken for granted by the Congress or any other party, including the BJP. That is the secret of his behaviour. At different junctures, his NCP has had coalitions with the Left in Kerala, the BJP in Nagaland and with the Congress in some other states. Still, he is free to take his own decisions.

Pawar’s supporters always say that their leader has all the qualities needed to occupy the PM’s post. But Pawar has never encouraged such talk. He has reiterated repeatedly that it will be absurd for him to dream of such high ambitions when his party had only handful MPs behind him.

It is a known fact that Pawar has not mixed his personal equations and political decisions. The relationship between Pawar and Modi is the ideal example of such camaraderie. Pawar has been on excellent terms with various CMs, from Mamata Banerjee to Chandrababu Naidu or Arvind Kejriwal.

He does not feel shy of meeting them openly for political confabulations. Pawar’s cosy relationship with different industrialists and businessmen has never come in the way of his political manoeuvring. A subject of intense speculation, he has rarely failed to take those around him unawares.

Therefore, Sharad Pawar’s fiat to the NCP cadre to imbibe the qualities of RSS workers has come as no surprise. However, it will have to be seen how soon his followers start working or part for greener pastures. Given the influx into the BJP of late, Pawar will have to employ his tremendous political skill to keep his flock together. The extent to which he succeeds will chart the direction of politics in Maharashtra.