Only yesterday, his nephew Ajit Pawar had seemed to bear him a grudge for continuing endlessly in active politics
To those who have been lately dismissing Sharad Pawar as an old man past his sell-by date, it might be advisable to paraphrase Shakespeare from ‘Macbeth’ – who would have thought the elderly leader would still have so much chutzpah yet left in him.
Only yesterday, his nephew Ajit Pawar had seemed to bear him a grudge for continuing endlessly in active politics. Without naming his uncle, Ajit said, “Sometimes, the elders need to step aside to make way for the younger people.”
It was seen as an oblique remark against Sharad Pawar’s fierce grip on the Nationalist Congress Party with Ajit Pawar for long wishing he was the Number One.
A day later, at the relaunch of his 2017 autobiography, Pawar created a minor earthquake by resigning as party president, proving there was none better than him at turning the tables on rivals, even if they be from his own family. Ajit could never hope for the kind of support that rose instantly for Sharad Pawar. Those attending his book launch were in a state of utter shock, urged him to roll back his decision, suggested that entire Maharashtra would be agitated if he did not, that the NCP without Sharad Pawar would not get even a handful of votes, just as the Congress had suffered without the Gandhis at the helm at one point of time. They burst into tears, threw themselves at his feet, spoke in choked voices even as he looked on expressionless.
Source: NH
