Sharad Pawar failed to groom a successor: Uddhav Sena’s Saamana

“Sharad Pawar is like an old tree of the political field. He exited the Congress and set up his own party, the Nationalist Congress Party. He took the party forward, which made its presence felt. However, he has failed to create a leadership that will hold the reins of the NCP after him. The party has its roots in Maharashtra…,” the paper, with Sena MP Sanjay Raut as its executive editor, said in the editorial.

“There is no doubt that Pawar is a big leader on the national platform and his word has respect in national politics. However, he has failed to create his successor who can take his party forward. And that is the reason why his party was rattled when he decided to resign as the president. Every party worker was worried about his fate,” it added.

The paper said, “The moment Pawar announced his decision to step down from the party president’s post, it caused a sensation in national politics which was but natural. More than national politics, it affected his party more. Because Sharad Pawar means Nationalist Congress Party…”

The paper also praised Pawar’s recent move to announce his resignation. “The BJP split the Shiv Sena. Likewise, it had a plan to break the NCP into two. Some people were ready with ‘bags’ and had kept lodging-boarding ready for those arriving there. However, Sharad Pawar’s masterstroke ensured that the BJP’s game plan went to the dustbin,” it said.

The editorial claimed that one group of the NCP wanted Pawar to join hands with the BJP and free itself from the harassment of the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, and the Income Tax Department. “However, Pawar refused to toe their line. Not just that, the moment he announced his resignation from the party president’s post, Maharashtra’s political terrain suffered an electric shock. The party rank and file pressured him to take back his resignation…,” it said.

The Saamana editorial said following pressure from NCP workers and leaders, Pawar decided to set up a committee. “He appointed a jumbo-sized committee. And who made it to the committee? Many of them were those who were insisting that the NCP join hands with the BJP. But due to the anger among party workers, the committee was left with no option but to reject the resignation of Sharad Pawar as party president. The committee was to tell Pawar that, ‘hereafter only he and he will remain the president’. Thus, before the third edition could end, Pawar brought the curtains down on it,” it said.

The editorial also claimed Pawar had no choice but to stay on as president.

“At the same time, the event helped Pawar understand where his party was veering towards. Pawar said those who want to leave the NCP can do so and he will not stop them. That means those who wanted to leave have been stopped in their tracks, at least temporarily. However, the BJP’s lodging-boarding facility still remains in place,” it added.

It alleged that the BJP does not believe in winning elections through democratic means. “It [BJP] does not have the capability to win elections on its own. It wants to use ED, CBI, and Income Tax [Department] and play its political games,” it said.

Asked about the comments made in Saamana, Pawar said, “I haven’t read what is written in Saamana. I will express my views on it after reading it. But Saamana or their editors, we work together and when we work together, it would be appropriate to comment on it only after taking full information on it. Otherwise there will be misunderstandings. I am sure that their stand is to promote unity.”

Sanjay Raut, meanwhile, said the editorial did not criticise the NCP chief in any way. “How can you call it criticism? The editorial is meant to put forth a view. And we have done that. It is not a criticism in any way of the NCP chief. Those who are calling it a criticism are trying to spread misunderstanding.”

Raut said what the paper has said has already been expressed by the NCP chief. “Pawar saheb had himself in his press conference last week said he had failed to give an alternative to himself. And the paper has also said the same thing, that the NCP chief had failed to provide a successor who can carry forward the party after him,” he said.

Raut said the editorial has not soured his relations with Pawar. “We spoke thrice today, but I will not reveal what we spoke about. It is between him and me,” he said.