01-03-2011, 12:30 AM
[url="http://sunday-guardian.com/a/1821"]Pawar games[/url]
Quote:SEEMA MUSTAFA New Delhi | 2nd Jan
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, quite unperturbed about spiralling prices and farmers' suicides, is busy building bridges with Congress detractors. Fishing in troubled UPA waters, Pawar is currently stoking disgruntled allies to form a pressure group within the government with a view to garnering support as an interim Prime Minister if Dr Manmohan Singh is compelled to resign in the New Year.
Pawar, who was on a shaky wicket when UPA 2 came to power as he did not get the expected number of MPs from Maharashtra, has survived the IPL controversy to emerge as a contender for the top post. Buoyed by a troubled Parliament and a stronger Opposition, the Agriculture Minister has doubled efforts to bring the UPA allies and other parties to his side. His meeting with rebel Jagan Reddy in New Delhi has caused concern within Congress circles that see it as part of the "Pawar ploy" to give support to Congress detractors.
Sharad Pawar was close to Jagan's father, the late Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy. Congress leaders have always suspected him of supporting Jagan's rebellion, with the recent 45-minute meeting being seen by the party as a confirmation of this. It might be recalled that Jagan Reddy's has been spearheading a campaign against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and has emerged as a recognizable political force in Andhra Pradesh. Congress members point to the fact that Pawar had earlier made common cause with party rebels like V.C. Shukla and K. Karunakaran and was "only acting in pattern".
Pawar, who has a good rapport with Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mamata Banerjee has been strengthening lines of communication with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, a powerful ally in government. The two jointly addressed an Agriculture Conference in Tamil Nadu where the DMK leader was full of praise for Pawar and said that he had been personally invited by the Union Agriculture Minister. Sources pointed out that both leaders are now in "close contact".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unable to tame the Agriculture Minister or make him accountable for food supplies and prices. He has managed to evade responsibility and the Congress is not able to confront him on these issues as Pawar's support has become indispensable for the party to survive in Maharashtra, the only other major state it controls now besides Andhra Pradesh. In the latter too Pawar, sources said, is busy fomenting dissent, with the Congress particularly perturbed as several of its legislators are hovering around Jagan Reddy.
An emboldened Pawar has now launched a frontal attack against Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on the Lavasa Lake City project near Pune, for proposing action against it. Defending the project Pawar has said that the Environment Minister "should have consulted my ministry". There has been no immediate reaction from a stunned government. The Agriculture Minister has also come out, once again, in strong defence of industrialist Ratan Tata embroiled in the Niira Radia tapes controversy. He is the only Union minister to take this position.
As a senior Congress leader who has known Sharad Pawar for a long time said, "Pawar is able to sense trouble before it actually hits government, and obviously he is preparing the ground for himself." The 2G scam has weakened the Congress in Parliament, and the Opposition insistence not to back off from its demand for a JPC probe heralds prospects of a troubled Parliament through 2011.