As Maharashtra gears up for elections to to 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on January 15, NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar’s hometown of Baramati came under the spotlight as the Pawar family rolled out the red carpet to welcome industrialist Gautam Adani.
Adani was in Baramati Sunday to inaugurate the Sharadchandra Pawar Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence in the Pawar-run Vidya Pratishthan, but the optics of the welcome did not go unnoticed. He was accompanied by NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in a car driven by Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew and NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar. Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, along with Ajit Pawar’s wife and MP Sunetra Pawar, were also present to receive him.
The grand welcome for Adani was seen in the state’s political circles not only as a “precursor” to the Pawars reuniting for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) polls, but also as an event that has taken the sting out of attacks by the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) — the NCP (SP)’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners — against the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti for handing over major Mumbai projects such as the Dharavi redevelopment, port operations, and airport development to the Adani group.
“It (Baramati event) is certainly not unprecedented. In 2022, it was Adani who inaugurated the Science and Innovation Activity Centre at Vidya Pratishthan,” a source close to Sharad Pawar said.
Both the Congress and the Sena (UBT) chose to play down the development. “It is documented in his autobiography that Sharad Pawar played an important role in shaping a young Adani as an entrepreneur. Our fight is against the Modi-Shah duo for handing over Mumbai to Adani, and that will continue and intensify in the coming days,” said Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut.
Raut was referring to Sharad Pawar’s 2015 Marathi autobiography, “Lok Mazhe Sangati (The People, My Companion)”, in which he described Adani as a “hard-working, simple and down-to-earth individual” with ambitions to make it big in the infrastructure sector. Pawar wrote that although Adani was earning well in the diamond industry, he was keen to move into infrastructure, had “good relations” with then Gujarat chief minister Chimanbhai Patel, and had submitted a proposal to develop the Mundra port. Pawar also noted that Adani entered the coal sector on his suggestion.
While Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal said the party was not opposed to the Pawar-Adani relationship and only sought “transparency from the BJP-ruled state and the central governments”, Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad was more critical. “The Opposition should have shown unity, at least on issues concerning the common man, especially when the BJP government is allowing industrialists to loot Mumbai,” she said.
At least four other Congress leaders who spoke to The Indian Express admitted that Sharad Pawar hosting Adani just ahead of the crucial civic body polls had shown the Opposition MVA in a “poor light” and weakened its attack on the BJP’s “pro-corporate tilt”. “We have always been sceptical of Pawar’s politics. Earlier he invited Modi and Shah to Baramati, and now it is Adani. We do not know the reasons, but it certainly hurts the Opposition,” said a former Congress minister.
The BJP has refrained from making any comment on the apparent thaw between the NCP factions. “What remains to be seen is what happens to the Opposition now. Uddhav Thackeray was banking on Sharad Pawar to pull off miracles in the civic polls, but that is unlikely to happen,” said a senior BJP leader.
The BJP’s silence is also being seen as an attempt to keep channels open with Sharad Pawar at the Centre, particularly amid Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde’s frequent visits to Delhi and signs of unease among Mahayuti partners. “Shinde’s hard bargaining and regular meetings with top BJP leaders indicate the central party leadership’s vulnerability. The BJP-led NDA, which depends on allies like Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP (16 MPs) and Nitish Kumar’s JDU (12 MPs), cannot afford to alienate smaller allies. With the BJP short of the 272 majority mark, the NCP (SP)’s eight MPs could prove crucial for stability if required,” a BJP insider said.
This is not the first time Sharad Pawar has deviated from the Opposition’s line. Last year, he opposed the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the Hindenburg report, which had accused the Adani group of alleged stock manipulation and accounting fraud. “The issue has been given more importance than it deserves. We have never heard of these people (Hindenburg) or their background. I am not defending any wrongdoing, but anyone found guilty must be punished,” Pawar had then said, adding that a Supreme Court-monitored panel would be more effective in “bringing the truth out”. Subsequently, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) cleared the Adani group of all charges.
In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, Sharad Pawar again charted an independent course. While the Opposition INDIA bloc demanded a special session of Parliament to discuss the military action following the April 22 Pahalgam attack, Pawar urged parties to rise above political differences on matters of national security. Sule also joined one of the government delegations that briefed countries around the world on Operation Sindoor.
During the monsoon session of Parliament in August this year, the NCP (SP) broke ranks with the Opposition over a Bill proposing the automatic removal of chief ministers and ministers jailed for 30 days or more on serious charges. While the Opposition refused to participate in a JPC to examine the legislation, the NCP (SP) agreed to be part of it.