IPL scam most serious blow to Sharad Pawar’s power, credibility

Once a darling of the masses and the media in Maharashtra, has Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar finally joined the long list of Indian politicians who will eventually be remembered for the corruption of values more than anything else?

Even as his current term as Union agriculture minister has been lacklustre, the IPL-City Corporation scam that Pawar and his family have become embroiled in has singularly done more harm to his image than any allegation against him ever in the past.

No matter how much his acolytes worship him, it is doubtful to what extent Pawar will be able to wipe the stain of corruption that has stuck to him rather thick after IPL-2.

Always known to have had enormous access to money power, the IPL-City Corporation controversy is the first time that a questionable money trail has found its way to Pawar, his wife Pratibha and daughter Supriya Sule — a trail that the Pawars have been unable to explain satisfactorily.

Pawar, who became the youngest-ever chief minister of Maharashtra at 38 in 1978, and also served in that capacity for a record four terms, always had high stature associated with his name.

Active in politics for more than four decades, admirers in his hometown Baramati have created a museum dedicated to his many achievements.

Always recognised as an able administrator who steered Maharashtra confidently as chief minister, he also enjoyed the image of a progressive and cultured leader.

Pawar is remembered for influencing government policy in favour of women’s empowerment. On rare occasions, he has cited his own example of a progressive-reformist mindset by deciding not to have any more children after his first one — a girl child. This was especially rare, given the rural, caste and community profile that he comes from.

As chief minister, he took numerous trips to Israel and played a key role in introducing effective subsidies for drip irrigation in Maharashtra. The horticultural development that is seen in the state — with ‘Sharad Seedless’, a grape variety named after him — is unquestioningly attributed to his initiatives.

So is the case with dairy development and the flourishing district-level milk cooperatives in Maharashtra which provided an additional source of income to farmers. Pawar took this a step forward and wanted farmers to benefit from agri-processing industries.

One of the prime examples of this was in Baramati itself where milk supplied by the taluka milk producers’ cooperative was used for producing Nestle products and cheese for McDonald’s.

His emphasis on education and industrialisation saw him establish an industrial estate in Baramati (supported with an airstrip) and the Vidya Pratisthan educational empire with its eye-popping facilities and courses in information technology and biotechnology.

Pawar always took pride in attending annual World Bank conclaves on development issues in Washington and, in the 1990s, launched the yearly Baramati Initiatives with the World Bank on bridging the digital divide.

There was a time when the masses and the media believed that Pawar was synonymous with prosperity for Maharashtra.

At one stage he felt he had outgrown state politics and had a larger role to play nationally. In the post-Rajiv Gandhi era in 1991, he was projected as a frontrunner for prime ministership.

Having missed that opportunity, he, along with PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar, challenged the Italy-born Sonia Gandhi’s candidature for prime ministership and in May 1999 formed the NCP.

The NCP’s performance in the 2004 Maharashtra assembly elections is memorable —  the party won two seats more than the Congress’s 69. Pawar was absent during the early part of the election campaign due to his treatment for mouth cancer.

But he stepped in midway and took-off on an extraordinary whirlwind campaign that amazed everyone. The results were not surprising at all.

A shrewd politician, Pawar’s connect with the rural masses and his ability to remember names and faces has endeared him with his vote bank. It is tragic to see a man of such a meteoric rise, abilities and capabilities suffer a serious loss of image and credibility from which he is unlikely to recover fully.