Sharad Pawar's comment on 'weak' UPA not much off the mark

On record, Congress leaders have distanced themselves from agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s comments about UPA-2 being a weak government. But internally, there seems to be a muted agreement that the handling of 2G scam, Anna Hazare and Ramdev agitations as well as the rap its gets from the judiciary have created this impression and damaged the public perception about the UPA-2.

“One can understand Pawar’s predicament. His party lost a by-election in his daughter’s constituency, so he had to strike a public posture. But then there can be no doubt that the UPA-2 is seen as a weak government as compared to UPA-1,” said a former union minister and senior party functionary.

However, in private conversations Pawar himself is keen to dispel the notion that his observations are targeted at any one. But the fact that another UPA partner, the DMK, has echoed his viewpoint has only added to the justification of his criticism of the government.

“The manner in which two union ministers — Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee — were involved in a public spat over the 2G note, and the fact that now Mukherjee has defended the CAG even when the Congress has criticised him, are just some of the pointers that reinforce Pawar’s observations,” a senior UPA minister said.