Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended his greetings to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on his 83rd birthday.
Taking to the social media platform ‘X’, PM Narendra Modi said, “My best wishes to Shri Sharad Pawar Ji on his birthday. May he be blessed with a long and healthy life.”
Pawar founded the NCP in 1999. He became an MLA for the first time at the young age of 27, before becoming the youngest Chief Minister of the state, at the age of 38, in 1978. The four-time chief minister of Maharashtra has also served as Defence Minister. He was Agriculture Minister in the cabinet of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He was the first and former president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which was founded in 1999, after separating from the Indian National Congress.
Sharad Pawar founded the NCP after his ouster from Congress. He, Tariq Anwar and PA Sangma raised a revolt in the Congress Working Committee on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin leading to a split in the party. NCP soon earned the recognition of a national party, after registering its presence in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Meghalaya and Manipur. However, it lost the tag this year.
Pawar belongs to rural Maharashtra and is sometimes referred to as ‘Chanakya’ in political circles. He played a crucial role in the formation of Maha Vikas Aghadi, the alliance between Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP.
Maharashtra is set to undergo polls next year. The Mahavikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress, which came to power in the state, collapsed after Eknath Shinde revolted and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with MLAs of Shiv Sena.
This led to the formation of the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction)-BJP government in the state.
A year later, Ajit Pawar, from the NCP, revolted against his party chief and joined hands with the BJP along with some of his party colleagues.
The state is now run by the Mahayuti alliance, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP.