It seems a ruthless Sharad Pawar has struck back with vengeance, settling old scores with some Congress leaders, and unsettling the core UPA partner. Even as he himself faces a tough time in his family over political ambitions of grandnephews, Pawar has ensured that other political families with a potential are divided, and exposed to public scrutiny ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

Old rivalry

Latest in the list of Pawar's victims is the Vikhe Patil family. In fact, the Vikhe Patils have had a taste of Pawar's machinations in the past when late Balasaheb Vikhe Patil had rebelled against Congress when denied a ticket. He had lost the seat, but then dragged Pawar and others to court accusing them of defamatory election speeches. The High court had ruled in his favour and taken Pawar's voting rights away for six years. However, Pawar won the case in the Supreme Court and got his right to vote restored. The rivalry was mentioned specifically by Pawar when he denied Vikhe Patil's grandson, Sujay, the Ahmednagar seat. He recalled the past challenging the Vikhe Patils to defeat his man. This fiery statement added fuel to the fire and Sujay reached the BJP's doorstep.