S Balakrishnan
The Times of India
May 25, 1999
Title: Maharashtrian, first & last (Interview with Mr Sharad Pawar) Author: S Balakrishnan Publication: The Times of India Date: May 25, 1999 He has taken the biggest gamble of his 40-year-long political career by openly revolting against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has inherited the dynastic mantle of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Mr Sharad Pawar is grimly aware of the daunting task ahead of him. But, he is in a rare mood for combat and he is determined to emerge as the key player after the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held later this year. He has already announced plans to launch a new political party. In between sips of Darjeeling tea late on Sunday evening, he spoke to S Balakrishnan at his flat at "Ramalaya" building on Peddar Road. Q: Soon after you were expelled from the Congress, you said you fell relieved since you had felt like a slave in the party. Elaborate. A: I felt humiliated in the party. There was hardly any involvement in the decision-making process. Often I came to know about the party's decisions through the newspapers. I found that a small coterie of people was taking decisions in the name of the so-called high command. There was no scope for airing a dissenting opinion. Often I was told that a particular statement or observation made by me was improper. For example, I had candidly spoken about the political situation and other issues at a recent meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in New Delhi. Immediately, I was told that my views were not liked by the leadership. In the Congress, there are two types of people. The first type consist of those who have contacts with the masses and the party rank and file and are genuinely concerned about the organisation. The other type comprises of people who are totally rootless, but visit New Delhi very often and repeatedly demonstrate their sycophancy. The tragedy is that it is the latter variety of people who are given importance. This despite the fact that the party is paying a heavy price for encouraging sycophancy. When I expressed my sincere concern over this sorry state of affairs, it was not liked and baseless motives were attributed to me. I felt mentally tortured. Q: Don't you think that it was after Indira Gandhi assumed the leadership of the Congress that intra-party democracy all but vanished and sycophancy was mistaken for loyalty? A: But Indiraji had a tremendous feel for the pulse of the people. Rajiv Gandhi could perfectly understand the mood of the youth. They did not let their ears be poisoned by sycophants. Q: You supported the move to make Sonia Gandhi the party president and also the decision to amend the party constitution to enable her to become chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) and you also campaigned with her during the last Lok Sabha elections. Were you not aware all along that she was a person of foreign origin? A: The Congress has had four persons of foreign origin as its president. So there was nothing wrong if she wanted to become the party president. As for the CPP leader-ship issue, I must confess that none of us were even aware of the move till the last moment. We were simply told that the leader - Mrs Gandhi - wants the amendment to be carried out. I did have reservations about this, but it was too late to oppose the move. In any case, I did not make an issue of it, since we were in the opposition. As for the election campaign, I wish to point out that never once did Sonia Gandhi say that she wanted to become the Prime Minister and nor did she project herself as such. In fact, at Nandurbar, she declared that she was not even a primary member of the Congress, but she has entered the campaign since she was a part of the Congress family. I believed her when she said she had come out into the open only to revive the Congress. Q: When exactly did you decide to revolt against her? A: When she drove down to the Rashtrapati Bhavan after the collapse of the Vajpayee government and informed President Narayanan that she, as distinct from the Congress, had the support of 272 MPs. That was when her intention be-came very clear. She wanted to become the Prime Minister of India even though she had lived a substantial portion of her life as a foreigner. I was stunned and like me other Congress leaders were also stunned. I was deeply worried be-cause the Congress would lose very heavily in the elections if it is going to project a foreigner as its Prime Ministerial candidate. Some of the Congress leaders who are now attacking me told me that they will not join a ministry led by a person of foreign origin. All of us were worried as to how posterity will judge us for permitting a foreigner to become the Prime Minister of a large and great country like India. It was then that myself and other likeminded people decided to boldly express our views. Q: But is it not because you want to become the Prime Minister of India that you are raising this issue? A: It is an absurd charge. I am fighting for a principle. We are witnessing a battle between a foreigner on the one hand and 100 crore self-respecting people on the other. Having said this, I want to ask you is it a crime if I have the ambition to become the Prime Minister? I have been in politics since 1958. Over the past 40 years, I have risen from the rank of a ordinary party worker to become a member of the Congress Working Committee. I have 32 years of experience as an MLA and a Parliamentarian. This being the case, is it a crime to nurture an ambition? Every political worker has some ambition or the other. If he is told not to have any ambition, then he will feel demoralised and the party will suffer. Q: You are forming a new political party and trying to network with other likeminded organisations. In terms of political arithmetic, don't you think that you will effectively end up helping the Bharatiya Janata Party since you will be splitting anti-BJP votes? A: We have done our arithmetic. The likeminded parties will assess their strength and weakness in each constituency and emerge victorious with a large number of MPs. The national mood is definitely against the imposition of a foreigner on the country. Q: Will you return to the Congress if Sonia Gandhi declares that she is not interested in becoming the Prime Minister? A: She had earlier stated that she was not interested in power, but only in strengthening the Congress. Then she became the party President, the chairperson of the CPP and recently she openly staked her claim to prime ministership. I won't 'trust her if she says she is not keen on becoming the PM.
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