Pawar politics in Maha game

The Nationalist Congress Party chief and Union agriculture minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, looks like he is not averse to engaging in untidy politics. In the weeks preceding the Lok Sabha election last May when the term of the first UPA government — in which the NCP was an alliance partner, just as now — was coming to a close, Mr Pawar began to openly hobnob with third front elements who were fantasising about power in the company of the CPI(M). But he did not go over the precipice and, thus, still enjoys power at the Centre and in his native Maharashtra. Mr Pawar is at it again, this time advance-signalling the Shiv Sena. Or, so the thinking goes in political circles in the state. His supporters and allies should not be unduly surprised. In a long political career, the NCP founder has not been averse to the politics of opportunism if this pointed the way to a share in the power stakes. Besides being agriculture minister, Mr Pawar is also minister for consumer affairs. In recent months, he has given no one an inkling of the steps he has taken to arrest the unconscionable rise in the prices of essential commodities. On the contrary, the former Maratha strongman’s statements on the possibility of prolonged food inflation have led some to think that he may have “talked up” prices in order to benefit trading and industrial lobbies that deal with commodities like sugar. Disclaiming responsibility for the mess, the minister has sought to explain his lethargy in terms of the “collective responsibility” of the Manmohan Singh Cabinet. When Congressmen, upset with this and the widespread resentment in the country on the government’s inability to check the rising price curve, went after him in the Congress Working Committee meeting last week, the NCP chief responded with calling on Mr Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena supremo. The move would dismay not only his alliance party, the Congress, but a much wider constituency that is tired with the politics of chauvinism. Along with a senior functionary of the BCCI, Mr Pawar (who is currently the ICC vice-president and will take over as the president of the council in June) turned up at the door of the Shiv Sena chief, Mr Balasaheb Thackeray, ostensibly to request the Maharashtrian parochial leader to place no obstacles in the way of Australian cricketers taking part in the IPL. The Sena had threatened to disrupt matches if the Australians were included. Why had Mr Pawar not talked to Mr Thackeray about Australian cricketers earlier is not clear. The issue is not new. It is hard to get away from the feeling that the NCP leader showed poor timing and an uncertain grasp of politics. The Sena was on the mat after Mr Rahul Gandhi’s whirlwind tour of Mumbai on Friday. Mr Pawar has given it a lifeline. It is hard to see what he gains from it, frankly. Perhaps he calculates that since the Sena and its Maharashtra ally, the BJP, are going through a rough patch, the NCP could make a bid to take the BJP’s place, leaving the Congress in the lurch. This is mechanical logic, not political calculus. Should Mr Pawar actually traverse this course, it is unlikely the NCP will be able to retain its integrity. The NCP chief would give the impression of being a wildly swinging pendulum — from hobnobbing with the Left to exhibiting no qualms about the Sena at the other end of the spectrum.