Dhananjay Munde, Leader of Opposition and NCP MLC claims that Pawar has been getting a good response from the citizens
With most of his trusted aides busy with the State Assembly elections and several others having defected to the BJP or Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party Supremo Sharad Pawar has been fighting a lonely battle of survival at the age of 78.
"Pawar saheb had his tongue operated on recently. He has been advised by the doctors not to travel too much or speak, but he is still campaigning," said a senior NCP leader on the condition of anonymity.
"What I will do sitting at home? I get inspiration by meeting the youth. They energise me. Therefore, I have maintained the practice of meeting people and understanding their problems," Pawar said.
Dhananjay Munde, Leader of Opposition and NCP MLC claims that Pawar has been getting a good response from the citizens. "It is great to see the kind of response Pawar saheb gets from the youth. Despite being younger, we often get tired but I admire his stamina and like to learn from him. He is trying to connect with those who have been ignored by the incumbent government," said Munde.
The NCP secured only four seats in the Lok Sabha polls, while Congress just opened its account in Maharashtra. Ahead of state polls, NCP has been hit by major defections. These include its sitting MP Udayanraje Bhosale, his close aide Padmasinh Patil, former NCP state unit chief Madhukar Pichad, NCP Mumbai unit president Sachin Ahir and women's wing president Chitra Wagh, and several sitting MLAs. During the Lok Sabha polls, Pawar's trusted aide Vijay Singh Mohite-Patil left to join the BJP.
"BJP had planned to corner Pawar ahead of state polls. Therefore, many NCP leaders were poached by the incumbent government. Though heavyweight political families left Pawar, the party workers have not left him. As long as people are with us, we should not worry," said an NCP spokesperson.
Vijay Chormare, a senior political commentator said that the upcoming state poll is a foregone conclusion for everyone. "Pawar has not given up hope just like the central character Santiago in Ernest Hemingway's 'The Old Man and the Sea'. In the novel, people think that Santiago will not be able to catch any fish, but his epic struggle surprises everyone. The same kind of battle has been waged by Pawar in the current political situation. It is not easy to fight against the machinery of the BJP. But Pawar is hoping against hope in the toughest battle of his political life," Chormare said.
Congress and the NCP are contesting 125 seats in state polls while remaining 38 seats are being fought by the alliance partners. In the previous State Assembly, NCP had 40 MLAs while Congress had 42 out of the 288 seats.
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