When Sharad Pawar and Bal Thackeray launched a flop magazine

Sharad Pawarrsquos On My Terms is rich in detail about various important events in Independent Indiarsquos history including his own meteoric rise through state and national politics In this extract he writes about Bal Thackeray and two of the finest nonGandhi prime ministersBalasaheb Thackeray A good friend and an equally good opponent of mine Though older than me by about 14 years his political career started with the inception of the Shiv Sena in 1966 only a year before I got elected to the Maharashtra legislative assembly in the 1967 elections Since then we crossed swords in the political field right till his death in November 2012Read Story Sharad Pawar celebrates 75th birthday with NCP workersSharad Pawar with Bal Thackeray Picmidday archivesA cartoonist par excellence he was a fierce orator a skill which he used to great effect in building his party He was good at coining funny phrases and nicknames for his political opponents I was one of his favourite targets He would often call me lsquomaidyaacha potarsquo a sack of flour to make fun of my heavy girthIn private meetings however Balasaheb was a warm person who stood by his friends through thick and thin He had a treasure of anecdotes and he was an excellent raconteur Few people know that he had good knowledge of medicinal herbs which he grew in the rear portion of Matoshree his home in Bandra I used to visit him there and often saw him recommending herbs from his own garden for someonersquos ailment or injury When I was undergoing treatment for cancer in 2004 Balasaheb sent me a very touching letter Addressing me as lsquoDear Sharadbabursquo as he always did in private he went on to list several commandments relating to my dietary and working habits lsquoI hereby direct you to take good care of your healthrsquo he saidAlso Read Sonia did not want someone with independent mind as PM Sharad PawarI and my wife Pratibha would often visit Matoshree for gupshup and dinner Meenatai Balasahebrsquos wife was a great cook and a gracious host She would serve us delicacies of Kayastha cuisine the Kayastha community to which the Thackerays belong is well known for its passion for food Balasaheb and Meenatai would also visit our home at Maheshwari Sadan On a few occasions they were our guests at Varsha the chief ministerrsquos official residence when I was the chief ministerOnce a friend always a friend was Balasahebrsquos credo Although we often had to cross swords as our political views clashed it didnrsquot affect our friendship Drawing cartoons was Balasahebrsquos first love as was evident from the way he ran his weekly Marmik where he lampooned all and sundry to make a point After Balasaheb left his job at the Free Press Journal in Mumbai in the 1960s he BK Desai and I thought of launching a Marathi news weekly which would compare with the best in the world We held several meetings at his residence to finalise the content design and marketing plansAfter everything was put in place the issue of the launch date came up It was said at the time that one of Balasahebrsquos sisters had lsquodivinersquo powers and that she could predict the futureBalasaheb called her over for consultation We put her a question about our soontobelaunched magazine The sister went into a trance and giving us an auspicious date for the launch she said lsquoThe magazine has a bright future Keep the first copy in the sanctum sanctorum of Siddhivinayak temple at Prabhadevi You will see that all your copies are sold out in no time Not a single copy will be in the marketrsquoShe was right There was no trace of the magazine in the market as there were no takers Soon we had to wind up the joint ventureIn September 2006 Supriya was elected for the first time to the Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra Soon after her candidature was announced by the NCP Balasaheb called me up to offer his partyrsquos support lsquoSharadbabu I have seen her since she was a kneehigh girl This is a big step in her career My party will make sure that she goes to the Rajya Sabha unopposedrsquoI was deeply touched by the gesture However the Sena was in alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra lsquoBut what about the BJPrsquo I asked Balasahebrsquos reply was instant and true to his character lsquoOh donrsquot worry about Kamalabai lsquoKamalrsquo lotus being the BJPrsquos poll symbol She will do what I sayrsquoOn Narasimha RaoPV Narasimha Rao is one leader who in my opinion deserved much more recognition and respect than he actually received in our country It is being gradually acceptedmdashsomewhat grudgingly though in certain circlesmdashthat Rao should be given a very large share of the credit for turning around the Indian economy in the 1990sRao became prime minister when the Indian economy was in a precarious condition Manmohan Singh the then finance minister is widely and rightly lauded for presenting a landmark budget that year But it would not have been possible for Dr Singh to break new ground without the firm political backing of his prime ministerThe reason why Raorsquos exceptional contribution to the nationrsquos progress was not applauded was probably due to the fact that he well didnrsquot belong to the Gandhi family He came from a modest backgroundA man of extraordinary intelligence Rao was fluent in Telugu Marathi Kannada Bengali Gujarati Hindi and English When I was the defence minister in his government we used to often converse in Marathi During that period I was witness to his deep understanding of international relationsAlthough I had contested against him for the prime ministerrsquos post he didnrsquot hold it against me We got along well Our relationship went back to the days when he was the national general secretary of the Congress and I was secretary of the partyrsquos Maharashtra state unit He hailed from Andhra Pradesh but was closely linked to the Marathwada region in MaharashtraRead Story Prez PM Sonia hail Sharad Pawar as he turns 75I was in the Congress S when the Congress nominated him to contest a Lok Sabha election from Ramtek in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra He won the keen fight defeating Shankarrao Gedam of our partylsquoI hope I shall never have to fight an election against an opponent like yoursquo Rao said later Subsequently we were in the same party and he made it a point to take me with him for his election campaigns He was an astute politician who made all his moves deftly and after deep thought This was often made fun of It was joked that in the case of Narasimha Rao not taking a decision was also a decision I donrsquot think that was a correct evaluation of Rao When he wanted something done fast his decisions were quickOn VajpayeeAtal Bihari Vajpayee could blend politics and poise with effortless ease Though ideologically there was no common ground between us I always found him to be a highly cultured person who genuinely believed in democratic values and the parliamentary systemAtalji was the first leader without any connection with the Congress to head a government at the Centre I was leader of the opposition at the time He could run the NDA government for a total of six years because he recognised that Indian polity had undergone a major transformation and the days of oneparty government were over Regional parties were treated with respect and given their due for the first time during his tenureHis unique working style carried him through despite a number of odds He had a fine sense of right and wrong And a delightful sense of humour too Certain key posts like those of the chief vigilance commissioner or the CBI director are filled after consultations between the prime minister his senior cabinet colleagues and the leader of the oppositionAttending those meetings with Atal Bihari Vajpayee L K Advani and Jaswant Singh was a pleasure because Atalji discarded partisanship and took the decisions purely on meritA typical meeting would start with the prime minister sitting with his eyes closed and none of us saying a word for the first few minutes After a while Atalji would slowly open his eyes cast a thoughtful look at those present and ask lsquoAaj ki meeting ka prayojan kya hairsquo What is the agenda for todayrsquos meetingJaswant Singh would then explain that the meeting was convened to select a candidate for a particular post Atalji would again look at each of us and ask lsquoAap ke man mein koi hairsquo Do you have anyone in mind If all of us agreed on a name the meeting would get over quickly If we differed the prime minister allowed us to debate on the merits and demerits of individual candidates for a few minutes and then call for a tea break On resumption he would again listen to us for a while and announce his decisionI remember a meeting when Advaniji and I just could not agree on a particular name After hearing us out patiently for some time Atalji intervened in his inimitable style Turning to Advaniji he pointed towards me and said lsquoLalji hum log satta mein abhi aaye hain Inko satta ka humse zyada tajurba hai Inka kehna maan lete hainrsquo Lalji we have come to power only recently but these people have a long experience of running a government Let us go by what he saysAtalji was much more open and progressive in his outlook compared to his colleagues from the RSS parivaar No wonder his popularity cut across all party lines and ideological barriersExcerpted from On My Terms From the Grassroots to the Corridors of Power by Sharad Pawar published by Speaking Tiger New Delhi 2015