Sharad Pawar: The last man standing
The NCP emerged as the third-largest party in the state, relegating the Congress to the fourth position.
Mumbai: When the campaigning began for the Lok Sabha polls, the chances of Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) were all but written off by poll pundits.
Badly hit by a series of defections, it was expected that NCP’s performance would hit rock bottom in the Assembly polls. However, the party rose like a phoenix from the ashes and surprised everyone by winning 54 seats.
The NCP emerged as the third-largest party in the state, relegating the Congress to the fourth position. If the BJP-Sena alliance decides to form a government together, it will now stake claim to the position of Leader of Opposition in the legislative Assembly. The party also has a leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Council.
In what could be termed as a sweet revenge, the NCP also won the Satara Lok Sabha bypoll, with the party’s candidate Shriniwas Patil defeating Bharatiya Janata Party’s Udayanraje Bhosale, who had left the NCP just four months after being elected as a Member of Parliament.
The credit for the revival of NCP’s fortunes goes to its 79-year-old party chief Sharad Pawar, who single-handedly ran the party’s campaign, notwithstanding his poor health.
He also took on BJP’s star campaigners Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis aggressively, which energised the party cadre throughout the state.
The CM had targeted the NCP chief by mocking him over the defections in his party. “Mr Pawar says he is the president of the wrestling association and he has groomed many wrestlers. Then why all wrestlers are leaving him? Nobody wants to stand by you,” he had said.
With NCP’s impressive performance, Mr Pawar has shown who is the real Pehelwan.
The election will be remembered for the fight put up by him, said senior journalist Rajendra Thorat.
The NCP’s strong comeback also prompted jokes on social media, which emphasised the charisma of Pawar. One of the jokes reads as follows: Unhe karna tha 220 paar, lekin bich me aa gaye Sharad Pawar.” (They wanted to cross 220 seats, but Sharad Pawar came in between their ambition).