Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Saheb of Baramati

The road to Baramati doesn't yield a joyride but in the constituency Sharad Pawar has worked wonders over the years, reports Danish Riaz

Sharad Chandra Govind Rao Pawar was born in Baramati, a little town around 100 km to the northeast of Pune. The date was December 12, 1940. One does not know if Baramati had road connectivity then. It is December 2009, and the road connecting Pune to Baramati is a backseat rider’s nightmare. But Sunil, a lecturer at the Indian Institute of Management and Research Centre, Pune, sitting next to me in the rickety state bus, assured me. “Don’t be depressed or anxious. You are going to Baramati. The roads are fine there, within two hours your backbreaking journey will end.” His words proved true.

Upon reaching Baramati, you won’t come across life-size cutouts of Pawar Saheb, nor will you see huge NCP hoardings crying out “Mubarak” and “Dhanyawad”. But speak to anybody here about the NCP supremo, and you are likely to learn that someone in his family has received a favour or two from Sharad Pawar.

Pawar focused on two core issues in his constituency - security and stability. He established agriculture trusts for farmers and sugar land for general labourers. To ensure supply of milk for the public, he created a “Doodh Sangh”. He made sure those who lived in the villages and the suburbs got access to education. He built numerous social and cultural trusts which served people and entertained them, not to mention the numerous political organisations he founded. In fact, his process of political, social and economic development impressed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh so much that he advised the rest of the country to adopt the Baramati model.

Kiran Bhujbal, a former political adversary and now a close aide of Sharad Pawar, tells TSI, “Sharad Pawar and his family played a key role to bring Baramati up to a certain level. The story of progress has not ended ever since it started in 1967 when Pawar Saheb won his first election by 18,000 votes. People have been fully supportive ever since. That is why now, during election time, he does not really have to come down for campaigning. He attends to other responsibilities, knowing that he will win.”

Kiran Bhujbal goes into the past. He says, “There are two political families in this area, the Pawars and the Kakrys. In 1965, Babu Lal Kakry stood against Sharad Pawar. But Pawar Saheb beat him hands down because of his people-centric approach. His programmes were all development-oriented. He installed a percolation tank with help from the Australian High Commission in 1967. That brought immense relief to farmers. The Baramati constituency is 40 per cent Marathi. The remaining 60 are other communities. Pawar Saheb is the undisputed leader of them all.”

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2009


An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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