NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar has said he led the move the topple the Maharashtra government headed by Vasantdada Patil in 1978, but the same leader proposed his name for the chief minister's post a decade later.
That was the kind of "large-hearted leadership" the Congress had at the time, Pawar, who had a long stint in the opposition party, said at an event here on Saturday.
Pawar snapped ties with the Congress in 1999 and co-founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In July 2023, the NCP split after Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar joined the then Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government.
The 84-year-old Rajya Sabha member, who served as Maharashtra's CM multiple times, recalled that after Emergency, the grand old party split into the Congress (Indira) and Swarn Singh Congress.
Pawar said he remained in the Swarn Singh Congress with his mentor Yashwantrao Chavan at the time, but neither side had a clear majority in the elections that subsequently took place.
"Eventually, we came together and made Vasantdada the chief minister. However, many of us young workers had a resentment against Congress (I), since we were aligned with Chavan saheb. So there was a gap. Dada tried to bridge it, but we opposed it," the former Union minister said.
"I was among the key opponents. As a result, we decided to bring down the government and we did. I became the chief minister," he recalled.
"Why am I saying this? Because ten years later, we were all united again," Pawar pointed out.
When a meeting was called to decide the next CM, many names were discussed - Ramrao Adik, Shivajirao Nilangekar, he added.
"But dada said 'no more discussion...we have to rebuild the party. Sharad will lead it'," Pawar said.
"Imagine the same leader whose government I brought down, he put all that aside and chose unity for ideology. That was the kind of large-hearted leadership we had in the Congress," the former CM said.
That was the kind of "large-hearted leadership" the Congress had at the time, Pawar, who had a long stint in the opposition party, said at an event here on Saturday.
Pawar snapped ties with the Congress in 1999 and co-founded the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). In July 2023, the NCP split after Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar joined the then Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government.
The 84-year-old Rajya Sabha member, who served as Maharashtra's CM multiple times, recalled that after Emergency, the grand old party split into the Congress (Indira) and Swarn Singh Congress.
Pawar said he remained in the Swarn Singh Congress with his mentor Yashwantrao Chavan at the time, but neither side had a clear majority in the elections that subsequently took place.
"Eventually, we came together and made Vasantdada the chief minister. However, many of us young workers had a resentment against Congress (I), since we were aligned with Chavan saheb. So there was a gap. Dada tried to bridge it, but we opposed it," the former Union minister said.
"I was among the key opponents. As a result, we decided to bring down the government and we did. I became the chief minister," he recalled.
"Why am I saying this? Because ten years later, we were all united again," Pawar pointed out.
When a meeting was called to decide the next CM, many names were discussed - Ramrao Adik, Shivajirao Nilangekar, he added.
"But dada said 'no more discussion...we have to rebuild the party. Sharad will lead it'," Pawar said.
"Imagine the same leader whose government I brought down, he put all that aside and chose unity for ideology. That was the kind of large-hearted leadership we had in the Congress," the former CM said.
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