Sharad Pawar: Man for all seasons of Indian politics hangs up the boots 

Sharad Pawar, a politician who has made pulling rabbits out of his many hats almost habitual for decades, has decided to take a back seat from electoral politics. On May 2, the 82-year-old politician said he has decided to step down as the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and will not contest elections again. "I have three years remaining in Rajya Sabha. I will not contest elections henceforth," said Pawar, speaking at the release of his autobiography Lok Maze Sangati. 

“I started my political career on May 1, 1960. Yesterday we celebrated May Day. After this prolonged political career, one must think about stopping somewhere. One must not be greedy,” Pawar added. 

Jumping into political hot waters 

Sharad Pawar's first brush with politics came with organising a rally for Goan independence as a schoolboy in 1956. He was also instrumental in the setting up of several sugar mill cooperatives in Maharashtra's Baramati region. In college, Pawar joined the Congress and by 1962 he became Poona district president of the Youth Congress. 

Pawar began his journey in electoral politics at the age of 27 after he got a ticket from Baramati constituency in 1967. He won the election and went on to represent Baramati in the Maharashtra Assembly till 1990. When the Congress split in 1969, Sharad Pawar joined Congress (R), the Indira Gandhi-faction of the party. 

The youngest chief minister

Pawar went on to become the Maharashtra Home Minister in 1975 and served the post till 1977. In 1978, Sharad Pawar broke away from the Congress and became Chief Minister of Maharashtra at the age of 27, the youngest person ever to occupy the post.  However, his first stint as chief minister was brief. The Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) government was dismissed in February 1980, after Indira Gandhi came to power.

In 1983, Pawar became the president of his National Congress (Socialist) Congress (S) party. He became a member of Lok Sabha after being elected from the Baramati parliamentary constituency in 1984. In March 1985, he contested the Assembly elections again and the Leader of the Opposition.  

Returning to the Congress fold 

After the rise of Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar returned to the Congress. He soon became the chief minister of Maharashtra again after serving a brief stint as the Union Defence Minister.  In 1997, Sharad Pawar contested the historic Congress presidential elections, but lost to Sitaram Kesri. Two years later, Pawar joined hands with PA Sangma to set up the Nationalist Congress Party. 

Despite breaking away from Congress, Pawar's new party aligned with the Congress party to form a coalition government in Maharashtra after the 1999 state assembly elections to prevent the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance from returning to power. Back in 2004, Pawar again joined the UPA government headed by PM Manmohan Singh and became the Union Minister of Agriculture.

Now in the Rajya Sabha   

Pawar was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2014 for a six-year term. In Maharashtra, he put together an unlikely coalition of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in the form of the Maha Vikas Aghadi to keep the BJP out of power. However, Pawar's play within the NCP has not been a smooth run from this point on. 

His nephew, Ajit Pawar, broke away from the party line and took oath as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis in an early morning ceremony. The government did not stick and Ajit had to give in to the party line later. But recent rumblings within NCP have indicated that Ajit Pawar seeks more power than what he has right now. What happens in NCP now is not clear, and Sharad Pawar, in his characteristic manner, will keep everyone guessing.