The journey of 66-year-old Suresh Shamrao Kalmadi from an air force pilot to a tainted Member of Parliament has been eventful. An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune, Kalmadi was an instructor at his alma mater when he prematurely bailed out from the air force in 1972.

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Getting into business with two of his younger brothers, Kalmadi acquired the Poona Coffee House in the Deccan Gymkhana area of Pune in 1974. Very soon he even started the Sai Service petrol station in the same area.

Kalmadi’s entry into the Youth Congress is attributed to the late Sanjay Gandhi, founder of the Youth Congress, who spotted him in Pune and made him president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress in 1977. This was Kalmadi’s formal entry into politics.

The other politician who saw potential in Kalmadi was Sharad Pawar, then the youngest chief minister of Maharashtra. Blessed with a pleasing personality and extraordinary skills at organising mass events, Kalmadi soon became Pawar’s right hand man and he left the Congress to join Pawar’s Congress (S) party in 1978.

One of his early success stories in the city was the Pune international marathon in 1983. In 1986, he succeeded in inviting the young Rajiv Gandhi to Pune for the international marathon and soon his reputation as a master networker and organiser soared.In 1988 and 2002, he started the Pune Festival and the Pune International Film Festival respectively, which added feathers to his cap.

Kalmadi’s access to the late Rajiv Gandhi, his position as a Rajya Sabha MP and his networking skills among Delhi’s high and mighty saw him emerge as Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar’s right hand man in Delhi.

With Pawar’s help, Kalmadi managed to wrest the Pune city Congress from senior Congressman VN Gadgil, who lost the 1991 Lok Sabha (LS) polls. In 1992, the Kalmadi faction took control of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which eventually helped him win the 1996 Lok Sabha elections.

The Pawar-Kalmadi duo was also responsible in bringing the National Games to Pune in 1994 and initiating the construction of the Balewadi sports complex, which was renovated for the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008.

Nominated to the Rajya Sabha for three terms (1982-95 and in 1998) he was also elected to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996, the 14th Lok Sabha in 2004 and the 15th Lok Sabha in 2009.

During the tenure of the late prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, he served as the minister of state for railways from 1995 to 1996. Kalmadi quit the Congress in 1997 and fought the 1998 Pune LS seat as an independent under the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi banner with support from the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party but lost. Returning to the Rajya Sabha, Kalmadi retained firm control of the PMC with his faction winning the 1997 and 2002 civic polls.

Kalmadi won the LS elections from Pune in 2004, although the rising clout of Sharad Pawar’s nephew, Ajit Pawar, saw the Congress lose the PMC elections to the NCP in 2007. The NCP led by Ajit Pawar in Pune with the support of his uncle Sharad Pawar won 41 seats to Congress’ 36 seats in the 144 member civic body.

Since then, Ajit Pawar has always challenged Kalmadi in Pune, right down to creating hurdles for Kalmadi during the CYG 2008, and the 2009 elections which Kalmadi won inspite of an uncooperative Ajit Pawar.

Kalmadi’s arrest on Monday marks the lowest point of his political career, if not the end of his future in politics.