Defeat Of Pawar Camp To Change Face Of Sugar Politics

The politics of the powerful sugar lobby in Maharashtra is expected to change with the complete rout of supporters of senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar in the elections to the Malegaon sugar cooperative society in Baramati. The `official panel floated by his nephew Ajit Pawar won barely three of the 24 seats.

The Congress has traditionally dominated the prosperous sugar cooperatives in the state. Party veteran Vasantdada Patil once presided over this lobby, and after his death, the pre-eminent position was taken over by Pawar. Conditions, however, have changed in recent times with Patils daughter too crossing over to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

In Pawars effort to consolidate his base in Delhi, he is losing control over Maharashtra affairs. The Baramati results are a serious setback to his position in the state, says Ram Naik, senior BJP leader from Maharashtra.

Pawars supporters, however, reject any such assessment. The election was won by a rival panel floated by Chandrakant Tawre, a one-time Pawar supporter. Pawars supporters claim that Tawre has not fallen out with Pawar in Congress politics at the state level. They say his opposition was more to Ajit Pawar in the localised sugar factory politics than anything else.

Too much need not be read into this defeat. It was basically a contest between Pawars supporters. Tawre had differences with Ajit Pawar, and had resigned from the post of the Malegaon factorys president. He set up his panel against Ajit Pawar to get back at him. This cannot be read as a setback to Sharadrao, a close associate of Pawar said.

But there is clearly more to this. Ever since the BJP-Shiv Sena combine came to power in 1995, it has made concerted efforts to break the Congress stronghold in the cash-rich sugar belt. It lured some chairpersons of some cooperatives by offering them ministerial jobs. In 1994, Pawar had to exert himself in an election to deny the chairmanship of the apex cooperative bank to the ruling combine. The bank later found that funds to it were being held back by the BJP-Shiv Sena government.

The Malegaon sugar cooperative has been controlled by the Pawar family for nearly three decades. With Pawar setting his eyes on Delhi, Ajit Pawar was seen as the heir apparent, but soon earned the ire of several Pawar supporters due to his brash approach. In the process, even senior Congressmen were ignored while grassroot workers were bracing themselves to get back at Ajit Pawar. The recent election provided the battleground.

One of the grouses against Pawar is that farmers had been adversely affected by his drive towards privatisation. Several cooperatives had been handed over to private entrepreneurs. The Baramati cooperative milk federation was handed over to K M Geonkas Conwood group of industries while the Baramati grape industries was given to the Vijay Mallya group.

The BJP is claiming some credit for Tawres victory. Deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde is credited with winning over Tawre from the Pawar camp.

Tawre, however, has claimed that he has no basic differences with Pawar, but the election results were a warning to him and Ajit Pawar. Even so, it is clear that the BJP-Shiv Sena combine is waiting in the wings to appropriate the Tawres, and gain a foothold in the sugar lobby.