Maharashtra election results: Sharad Pawar’s desire for national role crushed after poor party show

MUMBAI: He is a politician who has long harboured national ambitions, even though these diluted over time — from PM-hopeful to kingmaker to alliance convener. Now, after his party’s dismal showing, NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s desire for a national role has effectively been crushed.
Pawar has enjoyed three stints as chief minister of the state. He also served as defence minister and agriculture minister at the Centre.
Pawar’s first bid for a national role came in 1991 when he tried pushing for the PM’s post but was thwarted by P V Narasimha Rao.In 1997, while still in Congress, he made an unsuccessful bid for the party chief’s post, but Sitaram Kesari won it.
In 1999, Pawar quit the Congress and formed the NCP, parting ways on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin. The bitter parting led to mistrust between the Congress and the NCP, which then had to fight for the same pie in the state. The NCP later joined hands post-poll both in the state and Centre.
In 2009, Pawar pitched himself as a kingmaker who would help cobble together allies to help the UPA retain power but the large mandate of the UPA-2 meant that the Congress did not require him to play that role.
Pawar’s personal ties with BJP leaders, including Modi, with whom he has shared a platform, have led many to question his leanings. In 2014, when the BJP won the highest number of seats in the state, Pawar stoked controversy by offering his unconditional support to the party in the interests of forming a stable government.
It is the party’s eroded mandate that has come in the way of Pawar’s national plans. Pawar’s image has been tarnished by corruption scandals that have engulfed NCP leaders including the irrigation scam against his nephew Ajit Pawar and a PWD contracts scam which led to the jailing of NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal.
For Pawar, national ambitions will have to wait. With assembly polls five months away he will have to battle for the party’s survival in state.