Has Sharad Pawar decided to wreck the ship of Opposition unity? The Adani issue and the degree question have been the fiercest attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rahul Gandhi is the architect of the first one and Arvind Kejriwal of the second. Pawar did not speak on the subject since the Hindenburg Report accused Adani of stock and market manipulation to over inflate the valuation of Adani’s assets and businesses. Pawar’s party, the NCP, was seen collaborating with the Opposition in and out of Parliament. But his sudden outburst on an Adani-owned TV channel has come as a bolt from the blue. Pawar has gone to the extent of rubbishing the Opposition’s demand for a JPC. In fact, he gave Adani a clean chit. Before the Opposition could recover from the shock, he said that the issue of the PM’s degree was of no consequence.
Pawar is no ordinary politician. He is called the grand old man of Indian politics. He has been the chief minister of Maharashtra three times. At one time, after the tragic death of Rajiv Gandhi, he was the claimant for the top post in the country. He was the defence minister in Narasimha Rao’s cabinet and agriculture minister in Manmohan Singh’s government. Beyond his governmental responsibilities, he has always been considered to be one of the sharpest politicians of his generation, who has his ear to the ground. But he also has a Machiavellian streak and that is the reason that he is not much trusted by his peers. He is known to switch sides. At the young age of 38 he ditched his mentor, Vasantdada Patil, formed the Indian Congress (Socialist), and aligned with the Janata Party and Peasants and Workers Party to become the chief minister of Maharashtra in 1978, only to be dismissed by Indira Gandhi in 1980.
Pawar later rejoined the Congress on Rajiv Gandhi’s insistence. But when Sonia Gandhi took charge of the Congress, Pawar again raised the banner of revolt along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar. He went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party but in 2004 when the Congress formed the coalition government, he had no qualms in being part of the government. This was the same Pawar who in 2014, when required, extended support to the BJP to save its fall in the Maharashtra assembly. And now he is supposed to be the godfather to the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, the coalition of three parties; despite all the highs and lows the coalition has stayed together and the credit goes to Pawar. It is in this context that his utterances have to be taken very seriously.
The Hindenburg Report on Adani has given a new lease of life to opposition leaders. Because of this report Adani lost more than 100 billion dollars’ valuation of his companies. The report caused more damage to prime minister Modi’s reputation. The report hinted that Adani could rise so exponentially since 2014 because he had the backing of the government. The Opposition did not miss the opportunity and attacked Modi, asking what was his relationship with Adani and whether he actively helped Adani to build an empire. After the Rafale issue, the Adani matter really hit Modi hard. And since his friendship with Gautam Adani is in the public domain, so it is easy for the people to believe that he must have helped him grow at the cost of other businessmen. Till this date the prime minister has not given any explanation on the subject. Rather he attacked the Opposition for ganging up against him. When Rahul Gandhi in a scathing attack on the floor of the House accused him of wrongdoing, his speech was expunged from the Parliament record. And it so happened that within a month he lost membership of the House after being convicted in a defamation case.
The Adani issue has turned out to be the trigger point which the Opposition was seeking for a long time. It galvanised the entire Opposition to come together. More than 14 parties demanded that the Adani issue should be probed by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). During the session, these parties held regular joint meetings to coordinate their actions on the floor of the House, they spoke in one voice with a few exceptions, protested together at the Gandhi statute, and marched together at Vijay Chowk. The Congress led by party president Mallikarjun Kharge was leading the pack. Even Mamata’s Trinamool Congress, which did not agree with the demand for a JPC and wanted a Supreme Court monitored investigation, also joined the Opposition chorus of unity to oust Modi.
Even Arvind Kejriwal, who have been hobnobbing with KCR and Akhilesh Yadav, to form a third front to keep equidistance from both Congress and BJP, also joined the demand for a JPC on the Adani issue. If in Parliament AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was more than vocal on the Adani issue, then Kejriwal used the Delhi Assembly to launch a virulent attack on Modi. In fact, he went a step further than Rahul Gandhi and said that Adani’s money, in reality, was Modi’s money. Kejriwal called Modi an illiterate who was taking the country to ruin. BRS has also shown an inclination to go along with the Congress. KCR’s daughter praised Sonia Gandhi openly in Delhi. It is in this context that it is important to understand why Sharad Pawar sided with Adani and rubbished PM’s degree issue when Opposition unity is gaining momentum and taking firm shape.
The possibility that Pawar could be doing this for personal reasons cannot be ruled out. It is said that he is a good friend of Gautam Adani. And since his friend is in crisis, like a true friend he is trying to help him. It is alleged that since he was Adani’s original mentor, it is incumbent upon him to bail him out from this crisis. There are hushed rumours that an objective investigation of the Adani group might throw some dirt on Pawar too.
The possibility that he may be upset with Rahul Gandhi’s rise cannot be ruled out either. Rahul Gandhi, who once was called Pappu, has undoubtedly emerged as a serious politician after the Bharat Jodo Yatra; his assault on Modi has catapulted him to the centre of Opposition politics. Though Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have both denied that Gandhi wants to be prime ministerial candidate for 2024, the possibility nonetheless can’t be ruled out and Pawar might be on a mission to abort this.
It is also possible that Pawar genuinely thinks the Adani issue has no connect with the people and that the Opposition is wasting its time. This may be his way of communicating with the leaders.
Whatever be the reason, there is no denying the fact that Pawar’s utterances have further created a perception that the Opposition, despite all good intentions, is a divided house and incapable of speaking in one voice. This goes to the advantage of the BJP and ultimately helps Modi. Pawar has the stature and seniority to have conveyed the same in a closed-door meeting. On the issue of Savarkar, when Rahul Gandhi was told by Opposition leaders to not talk about it, Rahul Gandhi promised to not do the same. Pawar could have done the same. Since he has gone public, suspicion is aroused and his statements damage efforts to unite the Opposition, despite the Congress and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena saying that Pawar is firmly with the Opposition and what he says is his personal opinion.
The writer is Editor, SatyaHindi.com, and author of Hindu Rashtra. He tweets at @ashutosh83B
