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Sunday, Apr 12, 2009
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Pawar draws the crowds

Meena Menon

It was in Killari that Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar chose to hold a rally in support of an old associate from Osmanabad, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Lok Sabha candidate Padamsinh Patil.

Mr. Pawar is well remembered in Killari, the epicentre of the killer Latur earthquake that claimed nearly 8,000 lives on September 30, 1993. “The quake happened at around 4 a.m. and by 7.30 a.m. I was in Killari and on the spot,” says Mr. Pawar, who was then Chief Minister.

It is baking here at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. A large covered pandal has been built for the meeting, but it is almost empty. “Ab Ki Bar Sharad Pawar” (this time Sharad Pawar for PM) slogans rent the air as Mr. Pawar arrives to deafening cracker explosions.

People start filing inside in droves and soon the whole place is full.

Mr. Pawar reaches out to the crowd, expressing his admiration for their courage in facing an unprecedented disaster. Triveni Waghmare, who has come from Hasangaon to hear him speak, recalls the earthquake.

“Ten of my daughter-in-law’s family died. Saheb did a lot of work then. I think he should be the next PM,” she smiles.

At the next meeting at Pushpak Maidan in Osmanabad, a massive crowd sits in rapt attention. The next morning he leaves his host Padamsingh Patil’s bungalow in Osmanabad. The men and women of the family send him off with a traditional aarti, flowers and garlands. Sitting in an Audi Q7, Mr. Pawar, accompanied by his physician Dr. Ravi Bapat, is heading for Solapur to file nomination papers from the Madha Lok Sabha seat.

On the way he stops at the ancient Tulza Bhavani temple at Tulzapur. “I visit here often, my mother used to come here. I don’t make a drama of it,” he remarks.

A massive crowd waits for him at the temple and his security has a tough time keeping them away. After the hysteria at the temple, the convoy is stopped every ten km or so.

Shouting “Sharad Pawar zindabad,” small crowds rush to the vehicle to garland Mr. Pawar and shower him with rose petals. By the time we reach Solapur, the crowds get more frequent. Lata Phutane, a local NCP worker, gushes over Mr. Pawar’s prospects of victory.

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