Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
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http://www.sunday-guardian.
| Sharad Pawar begins political poker | ||
| SEEMA MUSTAFA New Delhi | 2nd Jan |
 |  Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar nion Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, quite unperturbed about spiralling prices and farmers' suicides, is busy building bridges with Congress detractors. Fishing in troubled UPA waters, Pawar is currently stoking disgruntled allies to form a pressure group within the government with a view to garnering support as an interim Prime Minister if Dr Manmohan Singh is compelled to resign in the New Year. Pawar, who was on a shaky wicket when UPA 2 came to power as he did not get the expected number of MPs from Maharashtra, has survived the IPL controversy to emerge as a contender for the top post. Buoyed by a troubled Parliament and a stronger Opposition, the Agriculture Minister has doubled efforts to bring the UPA allies and other parties to his side. His meeting with rebel Jagan Reddy in New Delhi has caused concern within Congress circles that see it as part of the "Pawar ploy" to give support to Congress detractors. Sharad Pawar was close to Jagan's father, the late Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy. Congress leaders have always suspected him of supporting Jagan's rebellion, with the recent 45-minute meeting being seen by the party as a confirmation of this. It might be recalled that Jagan Reddy's has been spearheading a campaign against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and has emerged as a recognizable political force in Andhra Pradesh. Congress members point to the fact that Pawar had earlier made common cause with party rebels like V.C. Shukla and K. Karunakaran and was "only acting in pattern".
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unable to tame the Agriculture Minister or make him accountable for food supplies and prices. He has managed to evade responsibility and the Congress is not able to confront him on these issues as Pawar's support has become indispensable for the party to survive in Maharashtra, the only other major state it controls now besides Andhra Pradesh. In the latter too Pawar, sources said, is busy fomenting dissent, with the Congress particularly perturbed as several of its legislators are hovering around Jagan Reddy. An emboldened Pawar has now launched a frontal attack against Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on the Lavasa Lake City project near Pune, for proposing action against it. Defending the project Pawar has said that the Environment Minister "should have consulted my ministry". There has been no immediate reaction from a stunned government. The Agriculture Minister has also come out, once again, in strong defence of industrialist Ratan Tata embroiled in the Niira Radia tapes controversy. He is the only Union minister to take this position. As a senior Congress leader who has known Sharad Pawar for a long time said, "Pawar is able to sense trouble before it actually hits government, and obviously he is preparing the ground for himself." The 2G scam has weakened the Congress in Parliament, and the Opposition insistence not to back off from its demand for a JPC probe heralds prospects of a troubled Parliament through 2011. |
http://www.sunday-guardian.
| Congress snub for inflationary Sharad Pawar |  |  |
| KOTA NEELIMA New Delhi | 9th Jan |
 |  Sharad Pawar (Reuters) ongress had to sideline Sharad Pawar this week to deal with food inflation that soared to 18.32%, widening the cracks in the UPA coalition further. The Ministries of External Affairs, Finance, Commerce and Industry tackled various aspects of price rise, a primary responsibility of Pawar's Ministry of Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs. A sulking Pawar left for Mumbai on Friday as it became clear that he played little part in the fire-fighting and no meetings were scheduled over the weekend. The Congress had long been suspicious of Pawar's interventions ahead of and during the food price crisis. This comes along with a sense of unease about his political motives in overlooking his responsibilities as minister, especially about anticipating food supply and prices. The latest episode started in December 2010 when onion prices saw a steep increase from Rs 35 a kg to Rs 65 a kg in just a few days. According to the Finance Minister on Thursday "three-fourths of food inflation is explained by inflation in vegetables". The current rate of food inflation was recorded for the week ending 25 December and to which onion price rise was a major contributory factor.
It was also suspected that hoarding and speculation could be the cause for price escalation, to counter which and increase availability the government banned the export of onions till 15 January. However, on 21 December, commenting on the crisis, Pawar said, "Onion prices will remain high for the next three weeks and the situation is likely to improve only after two-three weeks." This statement was criticised as being counter-productive and since then Pawar has stayed away from commenting about price rise. NCP's D.P. Tripathi argues, "The Cabinet works under the rule of collective responsibility and there is no point in blaming one minister for this crisis." But even with Pawar to blame, it might not be easy for the Congress to answer why it had been slow in countering the price crisis which had been brewing for about a year. Even on the issue of onion imports from Pakistan, the Ministry of External Affairs swung into action only after the food inflation figures headlined on Thursday this week. The action against hoarders, similarly, was taken on Friday after the extent of the crisis became public. Food prices had remained beyond the reach of the common man through last year. For the week ending 16 January 2010, food inflation had been 17.40% due to high prices of vegetables and pulses. Even high farm output had failed to correct the grim situation as thousands of tonnes of food grains were lost due to inadequate warehousing facilities. This year, with the rate of inflation worsening, the government might be forced to resort to short-term remedies to bring immediate relief than more sustainable solutions |
