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At 61, Sharad shows he is still Pawar-full

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai

The much-awaited 61st birthday party of Sharad Pawar turned out to be a public relations exercise by the Nationalist Congress Party to remind the people of Maharashtra that their saheb was still not out of national politics.

Everyone, from industrialists Rahul Bajaj, Adi Godrej and Hinduja Brothers to film personalities like Jackie Shroff, Bappi Lahiri, Yash Chopra and Shabana Azmi, were present on the occasion.

Senior politician Ramakrishna Hegde told the audience that a career in politics began at the age of 70 and praised Pawar for his contribution to Indian politics.

"After looking at India's history I feel that life begins at 70 and 60-61 is not a big age," Pawar too quipped.

He reiterated that the age of coalition politics has arrived and the days of one-party rule are over.

"Though we have different ideological parties, we must come together to improve the economic situation of the country. There are countries where the governments have changed, but economic policies remain the same. All the people here today have given me a new hope... to do something good for the country," he said.

The guests present on the dais were: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former prime minister Chandra Shekhar, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Deshmukh, Deputy Chief Minister Chaggan Bhujbal, Labour Minister Sharad Yadav, former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma, Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan, Minister of State for Power Jayawanti Mehta and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah.

Bhujbal, who was the convener, said, "Pawar saheb stays away from such functions. But we forced him to celebrate this time."

All roads leading to the Mahalaxmi turf club - where the function was held - were cordoned off. At the entrance, traditional Maharashtrian lejhim and tutari were played. Around 3,000 people attended the function.

Huge screens were put up at different places to give an overview of the function. The scribes -- who were eager to put some questions to the prime minister and Pawar -- were prohibited because of security concerns.

A short film, in which people from different walks of life praised Pawar for his vision and understanding of Indian problems, was also played.

In the film, political editor of NDTV Rajdeep Sardesai said Pawar was a new age politician. Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar said the NCP leader was one of the few leaders in India who understood the issue of the World Trade Organisation and the challenges to Indian farmers.

Vajpayee, who had come to Mumbai to attend the function, said, "Ours is a multi-party democracy. There are different routes, but everyone has one aim, and that is to improve the nation."

Praising the NCP leader for his work during the Gujarat earthquake, Vajpayee said, "When the earthquake occurred, Pawar came and told me to hand over the responsibility to him, as he had handled (relief work during) the earthquake of Latur in 1993."

"In spite of the fact that Pawar came from a different party and a different state, I made him the disaster management president for the Gujarat earthquake. Pawar's personality is very different and that is why I have come to wish him," the prime minister said.

Commenting on the ongoing crisis regarding the anti-terrorism ordinance, Vajpayee said, "The entire opposition criticised the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, but it was only Pawar who read the entire text and made suggestions, which we took seriously."

"We have to be cautious against terrorism. If we can come together on issues of national security, then there will be no uncertainty in the future."

Interestingly, not a single senior Shiv Sena leader was present on the occasion. Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who was also invited, could not attend due to ill health.

Farooq Abdullah said he had seen Pawar taking industrialists to different locations in Maharashtra and explaining them the pros and cons of investing in the place.

Somnath Chatterjee, who could not attend the function, said in a written message to the audience that Pawar's contribution to Indian politics was immense.

To everyone's surprise, a message also came from Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi, the chief minister of Bihar, wishing Pawar a "happy birthday".

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