Pawar’s ink as metaphor

By Prem Chandran

Is anyone surprised that Sharad Pawar, a central figure who runs governance in this country, has asked a rally of his supporters to vote twice in the upcoming parliamentary elections – one in the city they worked, and another in the villages of their birth? The election takes place at different days on different places, and hence this is possible, as he has told them. All they should do is to rub off the ink mark on their fingers after the first vote!

And, is there any wonder that, faced with questions from the Election Commission, the same Pawar has urged the panel to ignore the complaint against him as he had “said it in jest.” Or, is there any wonder that this senior politician would get away with his dirty act and the EC would opt to forget and forgive? Such is the toothlessness with which our institutions function too, thanks to the all-pervasive influence of ruthless politicians who lord over this nation and its people.

Sharad Pawar is a seasoned politician, who has been in the limelight for about half a century, much of which time he occupied positions. He is known as being extremely shrewd, having taken care of himself and his clan as also the sidekicks around him pretty well, which everyone in the Western parts of Maharashtra in particular know only too well. An Ajit Pawar or Praful Patel has only added to the exasperations of the well-meaning people in this country by their acts at a time when the nation was virtually rudderless, and a Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sat back and watched the show by giving the excuse of “coalition compulsions.” A game of making hay when the Sun shines.

Manmohan Singh knew what was going on, what everyone was upto, and not just some coalition partners including the DMK which happened to have got exposed through 2G Spectrum scam. Wherever the Congress ruled, the past many years were a period of progressive corruption, and everyone who cared to take a close look at the way things were happening in this country knew well about it. When ministers like Kamalnath provide statement of their wealth before the Election Commission preparatory to standing for another round of elections, they have scores of crores of recorded wealth; or Pawar’s daughter and MP, Supriya Sule, for that matter. No secret anyway, but where have all this money come from, even granted that what is recorded is only a part of their wealth? Contrast this with the wealth of Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who may have his foot in his mouth at times, but has just a tractor and a mini van, or thereabouts, as family wealth. No one has ever accused this humble man of corruption, anyway.

How come the 'big' political families of today have developed such a great business acumen -- like the Kamalnaths, or of a Jagan Mohan Reddy saying his only fault was that he happened to have been highly successful at business, a reason why his wealth has skyrocketed ever since his father, now deceased YS Rajasekhar Reddy, became the chief minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. He, for one, symbolizes the India of today. Sonia Gandhi learned a lesson from YSR, who diverted much of the governmental revenue to providing sops to the poor people and thereby buying their personal loyalty to him, which later got transferred to his son. But, times are changing. Even the poor are mindful of the games that politicians are playing at their expense.

What Sharad Pawar said at the rally should have come naturally to him; that has been his style, using shortcuts, and throwing scruples to the winds; and the Sonia-Manmohan dispensation that took the nation’s destiny in their hands saw to it that the likes of Pawar could carry on; not just out of coalition compulsions, but also out of their inexperience in public life and governance, not knowing how the nation’s interests were getting undercut by selfish elements, or by reassuring themselves that the people of this country are virtual fools.

The two possibly thought that the nation could be silenced by the economic gimmicks of Manmohan Singh that did good for the nation at one time, at least in extricating the country out of the licence raj and the like, and in introducing the process of economic liberalization. He might have taken a leaf from the success in China, but it helped. At the administrative level, he however proved himself to be more than a disaster, every system having been subverted under his and Sonia’s watch in the past many years. Also, note the fact that it is Maneka Gandhi quoting foreign media reports that Sonia Gandhi is today the world’s sixth richest woman. We do not know, and have no proof to make such allegations. But, knowing the way things were happening in this country, anything is possible. The Huffington Post that came out with an “expose” in this respect, quickly removed the report from its web site altogether, saying it did not have enough of proof in its hands in the face of a threat that it would be paid through its nose if Sonia filed a case against it.

Having got away with all his actions in the recent years, Sharad Pawar’s “ink” advice to his men came naturally to him. He knew that, in the India that he and the rest of the politicians have fashioned over the past years, anything is possible if one has the clout, political power and people’s vote by hook or by crook.

Sharad Pawar has cemented his support by many ways. When he launched the NCP, he introduced it as the party of the Marathas. And when he took up the agriculture ministry, he knew this was where he could go out of his way to promote the interests of the farmer lobby that is prospering in Western Maharashtra also by the policies that Pawar promoted at the cost of the interests of the farmers elsewhere. Farmers elsewhere, and even in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, are facing the worst times, and suicides are rampant, even, allegedly in Narendra Modi’s Gujarat.

Prices of vegetables are skyrocketing for no obvious reason, and then coming down-- potato and onion being sold in the range of 100 a week, and at around 10 in later weeks, and who benefits? Not the ordinary farmers of this country who sweat it out in the fields. It is either the cartels to which politicians are directly connected, and/or the big farmers of Maharashtra and the like. Pawar’s advice to poor farmers facing natural calamities is, “Face the odds courageously;” and he has little time to provide them succor. Were they waiting eagerly for such an advice from the Oracle of Baramati?

Pawar, at his young age, was an inspiring politician. His oratorical skills in Marathi were phenomenal, though age has reduced its intensity over the years. He had everything that should have gone with him to lead the nation but he squandered them out of his craze for material benefits. He lost everything he built up over the years by way of reputation by just one incident in Delhi, which television channels gleefully beamed for a week as if there was no end to it. And, when Anna Hazare saw it, his cryptic remark was, “Only one slap?”

Pawar is shrewd as shrewd could be. Knowing the way winds were changing in the country, he made an unsuccessful bid to be on the side of Narendra Modi. BJP’s Shiv Sena alliance has partly scuttled that plan for the time being, but there is every chance he will extract his pound of flesh at the time of the next government formation in Delhi. That is if the NDA and Modi cannot muster enough MPs to form a government. But, whether the nation, let alone Maharashtra, can bear with Pawar and his party for another five years is a big question. Narendra Modi is so enamoured of the PM position that, though he knows what a Praful Patel or Sharad Pawar is, there is nothing by way of reassurance that he would scrupulously avoid such baggage. The BJP’s moves in Karnataka is educative in this respect.

Sharad Pawar, shrewd as he is, has already decided he would not fight the Lok Sabha polls; which is a risky business for him and the rest of the UPA brass. But, he is already known to have made up his mind to enter Rajya Sabha, which for him will be no problem. And, once in Rajya Sabha, he can continue to guide the destiny of the nation for another, say, 10 or 20 years. If India’s democratic process has space for the Pawars, who are we to crib? People are the ultimate masters in a democracy. And, without smartness, can politicians survive? Pawar’s “ink” remark is just a metaphor to describe the life and times we are in. premcee@gmail.com;indiahereandnow.com