Pawar’s rise to power and politics: A timeline of NCP prez’s political journey

Rajya Sabha MP and the president of the Nationalist Congress Party ndash Sharad Pawar ndash has been proving his capable presence in Maharashtrarsquos politics and beyond With a political career spanning over five decades ndash from student politics to becoming Maharasthrarsquos chief minister four times and holding two major ministerial profiles in the union government ndash Pawarrsquos political moves and strategies always grabbed the attention of the masses that to say even if the leastOn December 12 as Pawar turns 82 here we reassess the timeline of his political journeyThe beginning with student politicsIt was in 1956 when Sharad Pawar called for a protest march on Goan Independence in Maharashtrarsquos Pravaranagar marked the beginning of his first such recorded political activism at a young ageIn 1958 Pawar joined Youth Congress and demonstrated his support for the Congress Party Four years after joining Youth Congress Pawar went on to become the President of the Pune district Youth Congress in 1962 In later years Pawar held key positions in Maharashtra Youth Congress and gradually began to put down his roots in the Congress partyFrom an MLA to becoming the youngest Chief Minister of MaharashtraIn 1967 when Pawar was 27 years old he was nominated as a candidate for Assembly elections from Maharashtrarsquos Baramati constituency Pawar indeed won the election and made it to the assembly from the thenundivided Congress Party For decades Pawar continued to win from the Baramati constituencyAlso Read Happy Birthday Sharad Pawar Here are some interesting facts about the NCP presidentAs an MLA Pawar was involved in rural politics addressed the issues related to drought in Maharashtra and was also active in the political activities of cooperative sugar mills and other cooperative societiesRight after the Indian Presidential election in 1969 the Congress Party faced a stumbling block within the party resulting expulsion of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from the party Following the split Pawar along with Yashwantrao Chavan became a part of Indira Gandhirsquos Indian National Congress Requisitionists faction During the 197577 government of Shankarrao Chavan Sharad Pawar served as the home affairs ministerIn later years when the Congress party again split into Congress I and Congress U Pawar sided with Congress U In the runup to the state elections in 1978 both factions of Congress participated separately but formed the government in the coalition supporting Vasantdada Patil against the Janata Party Pawar got the portfolio of Minister of Industry and Labour in the government led by Vasantdada PatilAt the age of 38 Pawar left Congress U to form a government with Janata Party and amid this Sharad Pawar became the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 1978 However after Indira Gandhirsquos return to power in 1980 the Progressive Democratic Front PDF government was ousted from powerIn 1983 Pawar became the president of Congress I and in 1984 he was elected to Lok Sabha from the Baramati parliamentary constituency In 1985 as Pawar again won from the Baramati assembly constituency he rather decided to be into Maharashtras state politics ndash becoming the leader of the opposition coalition PDF ndash as he resigned from the Lok Sabha seatFrom becoming Defence Minister to Agriculture MinisterIn 1988 Pawar became the chief minister of Maharashtra for the second time as the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi took the then Maharashtra chief minister Shankarrao Chavan into the Union Cabinet This became possible as Pawar by then in 1987 had returned to Congress I In 1990 Pawar became chief minister of Maharashtra for the third time after facing a tough electoral challenge in the state elections from the BJP and Shiv Senarsquos collective battle against the CongressIn 1991 Pawar became the Defence Minister in the Union Government led by Prime Minister Narasimha Rao He handled the portfolio till 1993In March 1993 Pawar became the chief minister of Maharashtra for the fourth time as the then chief minister Sudhakarrao Naik had to step down following the political repercussion of the Bombay riots Pawar remained Chief Minister until the 1995 assembly elections that witnessed a sharp victory of Shiv SenaBJP resulting in Manohar Joshi becoming the chief Minister 0f Maharashtra Pawar served as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly until he won from Baramati parliamentary constituency in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections and made it to the Lok Sabha seatIn 1999 Sharad Pawar along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar were expelled from congress for what has been described as the trio ldquoopposed Sonia Gandhirsquos as the presidentrdquo of Congress The same year in June Pawar along with Sangma founded Nationalist Congress Party However NCP Pawarrsquos came into coalition with the state Congress to form a government following the 1999 assembly elections to defeat Shiv SenaBJPIn 2004 Pawar became Minister of Agriculture in the UPA government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Pawar retained the position after the UPArsquos 2009 general elections win With the BJPled NDArsquos sharp victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections UPA lost its reign and Pawar lost his ministerial portfolio tooPawarrsquos NCP also lost in the 2014 state elections in which BJP was elected as the largest party in the election Following the 2019 state elections and after a whole lot of political crisis NCP Congress and Shiv Senarsquos coalition government ndash led by Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackery as the Chief Minister ndash was formed And in 2020 Pawar was reelected as an MP to the Rajya SabhaIn the latest development following a political crisis in Maharashtra Pawarrsquos NCP lost its power as rebelling faction from the Shiv Sena under Eknath Shinde and BJP formed a new governmentPawar now remains a member of the Rajya Sabha and a notable figure in Maharashtra and Indiarsquos politics