Adani issue: Not first time when Pawar leaves allies befuddled & rulers guessing

Sharad Pawars comments that he favoured a Supreme Court panel to look into the Hindenburg research report on Adani group may have created a piquant situation for Congress seeking a JPC probe but this is not the first instance wherein the NCP chiefs views appeared at variance with the Opposition bloc on targetting governmentIn a recent interview with NDTV Pawar said the SC panel will be more useful and effective than a joint parliamentary committeeHowever AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and cannot bring out the deep nexus between the prime minister and the billionaire businessmanShiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said Pawars stand will not lead to cracks in the opposition unity in Maharashtra as well as the countryNotably this is not the first occasion that Pawar in his political career of nearly six decades has stumped his allies as well as detractors with his political standAt a time when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been aggressively targeting late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar Pawar observed that the sacrifice made by Savarkar during the freedom struggle cannot be ignoredAlso readSC committee cannot bring out deep nexus between the PM Modi and Adani CongressLast month the Nationalist Congress Party NCP declared support for Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rios Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party which is part of the Bharatiya Janta Partyled NDA The NCP said its support to Rio is in the larger interest of the Northeastern stateIn Maharashtra NCP had shared power with Congress from 2004 to 2014 and later with Shiv Sena undivided led by Uddhav Thackeray from November 2019 to June 2022 as part of Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA of which Congress is also a constituentThe NCP is an ally of Congress in Goa alsoIn Kerala the NCP is part of the Left Democratic Front an archrival of the Congressled United Democratic FrontIn the past talks about an antiBJP and antiCongress front could not be completed without Pawar the 82yearold veteran who was once rumoured to be in the race for the post of prime minister but fell out with the Congress leadership picking PV Narasimha RaoPawar is known for his excellent rapport with leaders cutting across party lines In 2006 when Pawars daughter Supriya Sule was contesting her maiden Rajya Sabha election she was supported by Bal Thackerayled Shiv SenaIn 2014 when BJP fell short of a majority in Maharashtra NCP leader Praful Patel announced that the Pawarled party will support the saffron party to avoid midterm polls and ensure political stabilityDuring the trust vote sought by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis the NCP abstained from voting Later the Shiv SenaBJP came together again to form a government and Fadnavis took oath as the chief ministerIn the past Pawar was appointed as the vice chairman of the Disaster Management Authority set up by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Pawar who was given the rank of a Cabinet minister was a prominent opposition leader However it was explained that Pawars expertise in handling disasters after the 1993 Latur earthquake when he was the chief minister of Maharashtra was the reason for his appointmentIn 2014 Narendra Modi campaigned against the Pawars in Lok Sabha and state assembly polls He had termed the NCP as a naturally corrupt party and asked voters in Baramati to get rid of the family However six months later Modi as PM visited Baramati and praised PawarSenior journalist Prakash Akolkar said It is very difficult to understand the motive behind Pawars actions and speeches It is difficult to say why he does itIs it for maintaining his importance or for creating difficulties for CongressOn the other hand whenever he wants to create difficulties for Congress he later goes back to Congress These things hurt his credibility he saidIn 1978 Pawar toppled the Vasantdada Patil government by walking out with his supporters to form the Progressive Democratic Front government and become the youngest chief minister at 38 At that time Jana Sangh the precursor to the BJP was part of the PDFAs his remarks on the Adani issue caused a flutter Pawar on Saturday said he is not completely opposed to a JPC probe but a Supreme Court committee will be more useful and effectiveI am not completely opposed to the JPCiquestthere have been JPCs and I have been a chairman of some of the JPCs The JPC will be constituted based on the majority in Parliament Instead of a JPC I think the Supreme Court committee is more useful and effective the NCP chief saidIn the interview Pawar had come out in support of the Adani Group and criticised the narrative around Hindenburg Researchs report on the conglomerateSuch statements were given by other individuals earlier too and there was a ruckus in Parliament for a few days but this time outofproportion importance was given to the issue he had saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday 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