Make no mistake. What has been witnessed in Baramati is a miniature version of the Battle of Plassey in the 18th century that changed the course of history in India and saw the arrival of the British Raj.
In 21st-century India, there are no British and Britain is now being ruled by a leader of Indian origin.
So what is significant about the Battle for Baramati — the pocket borough of Sharad Pawar in the Pune district of Maharashtra — is that it could be likened a bit to the skirmish between the forces of Siraj-Ud-Daula, who was the the last independent Nawab of Bengal and became a victim of the conspiracies hatched by prominent individuals of his court, and the British.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
As the outcome of Plassey changed the course of India so will the outcome of Baramati. It will change the complexion of politics in the premier state. Baramati is just a symbol but a larger fight for the control of Maharashtra is underway through it.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) plan is straight and simple. By driving a wedge in the Pawar clan by ensuring Ajit’s revolt, the saffron party has created a ‘Mir Jafar’ in Baramati. Notably, June 4 will reveal whether Pawar will become ‘Siraj-Ud-Duala’ — the octogenarian leader has fought hard with his back to the wall.
On the face of it, the constituency which had witnessed polling some two weeks back was virtually a straight fight between incumbent Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar, wife of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, leading the rival and more dominant faction of the party.
But behind it is an open bid by the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah to demolish the bastion of octogenarian Pawar who fought the first Assembly poll there way back some six decades back.
Also read: Why Maharashtra Signals a Decline of the Modi-Shah Brand of Politics
Baramati is in a way the gateway to the sugar-rich western Maharashtra which has remained the political powerhouse since the heyday of the Congress. Sharad Pawar left the party in 1999 on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin. The real issue was that Sharad Pawar was feeling marginalised in the Congress despite leading the state to secure 38 out of the 45 seats in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections.
Much water has flown down the Krishana-Godavari since then.
Senior Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil, the state BJP chief, had made it plain at a press conference sometime back in Baramati itself that the BJP wanted to marginalise Sharad Pawar in his backyard.
‘Project Demolition Sharad Pawar’
The plan to bring down Pawar has been a work in progress for the past 40-odd years almost before the birth of the BJP from the erstwhile Jan Sangh or the Janata Party days. Incidentally, erstwhile Jan Sangh leaders had their first experience in power in the state along with the Janata party leaders in Sharad Pawar’s progressive democratic government in the late 70s.
The BJP believed and rightly so, that any forward movement in Maharashtra is possible and permanent only if it dealt effectively with the shrewd Maratha strongman who has the will and the guile to make things his way.
Sharad Pawar is known as one of the most hard working leaders in independent India whose networking skills are tremendous, may it be business or the media. There will be very few leaders in Maharashtra who personally know about the possible candidate of each major party in each of the 288 Assembly constituency.
The untimely death of senior BJP leaders Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde in the past decade and the sidelining of Nitin Gadkari by Modi-Shah in state politics was a setback to the plan to contain Sharad Pawar.
Whatever might be the strength enjoyed by Sharad Pawar and his party in the past 25 years since he parted ways with the Congress, he remained a towering personality in the state politics around whom the politics revolved. Like a juggler, he had the knack of ensuring right moves at right times that would dumbfound his detractors. When BJP secured 122 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls, Sharad Pawar suddenly announced unconditional support to the BJP government, throwing its ally Shiv Sena off balance. In Sharad Pawar’s one stroke, Sena lost its bargaining power. It also brought him in the good books of the BJP at the Centre.
Since his Gujarat days, Modi knew the utility and importance of Sharad Pawar, who in turn, used to his advantage as leader of the sugar cooperatives, which are the lifeline of Western Maharashtra.
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also suggested that weakening Sharad Pawar was a conscious decision of the BJP in order to grow in Maharashtra. What he left unsaid was that whatever might be the electoral strength of Sharad Pawar and his party, he was like a ‘banyan tree’ who would not allow anything else to grow under its shadow.
It was but natural that the BJP would be in full force in Baramati this time and the only assignment for Ajit Pawar was to demolish his uncle’s stronghold once for all. It was said that Ajit was not much visible in campaigning after Baramati.
During his campaign in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Modi obliquely referred to Sharad Pawar as ‘bhatakati atma (wandering soul)’ reflected the intent and the helplessness of the BJP. Incidentally, Modi had said in Baramati long time back that he has learnt the ropes of politics by clutching to the finger of Pawar, a remark with which the NCP veteran is not comfortable.
Over the years, the BJP has attempted to soften/marginalise Pawar in various ways. During the Vajpayee regime, Sharad Pawar was made the head of the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC), a cabinet minister level post. This accommodation was to keep Congress off balance in Maharashtra and ensure implicit support to it at the Centre.
The BJP played both the tricks in furthering its cause in Maharashtra. Mahajan was a friend and admirer of Sharad Pawar while Munde, his brother-in-law was a sharp critic of the Maratha strongman who left no opportunity to target Sharad Pawar in every possible way.
The BJP also brought into practice the principle of ‘slow and steady wins the race’. At a time, when it was unfashionable to take on Sharad Pawar, the BJP had its nominee from Baramati. The message was one of perseverance among heavy odds. There used to be one Pratibha Lokhande as the BJP candidate for some time.
The problem for the BJP was that Sharad Pawar was a jugular. He started sharing power with the Congress party within months of partying ways with it, insisting that the issue of foreign origin has no relevance at the state level. Sharad Pawar has been a Congresman who will not give away any opportunity of gaining power.
Ajit Pawar (L) and Sharad Pawar. Photos: Official X accounts.
What is seen in Baramati now is the final assault by the BJP from a man inside. Time will decide whether Ajit Pawar was a “Quisling” to the Pawar cause or was the “Trojan horse”.
Whatever might be the result from Baramati, one thing is clear that politics in Maharashtra has started changing. The BJP has failed to stabilise in the state despite leapfrogging from the number four position to number one with the emergence of Modi on the national scene in May 2014. Now the BJP itself looks under pressure despite trying all the tricks to come up on top in the premier state.
The Assembly polls due by October-November would be a fight fiercer than that of the Lok Sabha which would signal whether Maharashtra would go the Gujarat way or start a new anti-BJP game. The octogenarian has still a fight left in him whatever might be the Baramati outcome. The BJP has not bargained for a wounded Sharad Pawar in its mission to demolish him. Understandably, the battlefield in Maharashtra will not see any respite soon.
Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari are New Delhi-based journalists.
