Political Machinations or Historical Blunder? How Maratha Strongman Sharad Pawar Lost Out on PM Dream
Feelings are not facts. Praful Patel has been a loyal and trusted lieutenant of Sharad Pawar. It is therefore perfectly understandable for him to remember Pawar as one of the best prime ministers India did not have. There would be many in politics, bureaucracy and in other walks of life who would vouch for Patel’s sentiments inside and outside Maharashtra.
However, facts are a tad different. In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, there were seven contenders to lead the Congress and Pawar was certainly among them. The others were [not in any particular order] PV Narasimha Rao, Arjun Singh, Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma [who was vice president of the country then], ND Tiwari, Madhavrao Scindia and Rajesh Pilot.