Table of Contents
EARLY LIFE
- Sharad Pawar is one of eleven children born to Govindrao Pawar, and his wife, Shardabai Pawar born on 12 december 1940.
- Govindrao had a long career in Baramati Farmers’ Cooperative (Sahakari Kharedi Vikri Sangh). In 1950s he was instrumental in setting up cooperative sugar mills in the Baramati region.
- Shardabai Pawar was also elected to the district local board three times between 1937 and 1952, and also looked after the family farm at Katewadi, ten kilometres from Baramati.
POLITICS
- For his higher education, young Sharad Pawar went to Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC) in Pune.
- Pawar is married to Pratibha . They have one daughter, Supriya Sule. Pawar’s first political act was when as a schoolboy,he organized a protest march for Goan Independence in Pravaranagar in 1956.
- At college he was active in student politics. Pawar joined Youth Congress in 1958. He rose to become the president of Poona district youth Congress in 1962. By 1964, he was one of the two secretaries of Maharashtra youth congress .
POLITICS
- At a young age of 27 in 1967, Pawar was nominated as the candidate for the Baramati constituency.He won the election and represented the constituency on and off for decades.
- In 1969 joined the Congress(R) faction of prime minister Indira Gandhi along with his mentor Yashwantrao Chavan.
- In early 1970s, the then chief minister Vasantrao Naik had been power for a long time.At that time, looking to the future leadership of the party, Yashwantrao Chavan persuaded Naik to bring Sharad Pawar into his cabinet as state home affairs minister.
- Pawar continued as home affairs minister in the 1975-77 government of Shankarrao Chavan, who succeeded Naik as the chief minister.
POLITICS
- In the 1977 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party, under Indira Gandhi, lost power to the Janata Alliance.
- Later in the year, the Congress party split, with Pawar’s mentor, Yashwantrao Chavan joining one faction, Congress (U), and Indira Gandhi leading her own faction, Congress (I).
- Pawar himself joined Congress (U). In the state assembly elections held early in 1978, the two Congress parties ran separately.Janata Party which emerged as the biggest single party after the election, but without a majority. Pawar served as Minister of Industry and Labour in the Patil government.
POLITICS
- In July 1978, Pawar broke away from the Congress (U) party to form a coalition government with the Janata Party.
- In the process, at the age of 38, he became the youngest Chief Minister of Maharashtra.In the 1980 elections Congress (I) won the majority in the state assembly, and A.R. Antulay took over as chief minister.
- Pawar took over the Presidency of his Indian National Congress (Socialist) (Congress(S)) party in 1983. For the first time, he won the Lok Sabha election from the Baramati parliamentary constituency in 1984.
POLITICS
- His return to Congress (I) in 1987 has been cited as a reason for the rise of the Shiv Sena at that time.
- In the state assembly elections of February 1990.Congress fell short of an absolute majority in the state assembly, winning 141 seats out of 288. Sharad Pawar was sworn in as chief minister again on 4 March 1990.
- P.V. Narasimha Rao was sworn in as prime minister on 21 June 1991. Rao named Pawar as defence minister until March 1993. Pawar was sworn in as chief minister for his fourth term on 6 March 1993 of Maharashtra.
POLITICS
- New elections to the Vidhan Sabha were held in 1995. Shiv Sena-BJP won 138 seats while Congress retained only 80 seats in the state assembly. Sharad Pawar had to step down and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi took over as chief minister on 14 March 1995.
- In June 1997, Sharad Pawar unsuccessfully challenged Sitaram Kesri for the post of President of the Indian National Congress.
- In 1999, after the 12th Lok Sabha was dissolved and elections to the 13th Lok Sabha were called, Pawar opposed Sonia Gandhi as Congress president.
POLITICS
- The party duly expelled the three, and as a response in June 1999, Pawar and Sangma founded the Nationalist Congress Party.
- After the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Pawar joined the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the Minister of Agriculture.
- He retained his portfolio when the UPA coalition government was reelected in 2009. He faced several crisis and controversies during his tenure as Agriculture minister.
SPORTS
- Mumbai Cricket Association
- Maharashtra Wrestling Association
- Maharashtra Kabbadi Association
- Maharashtra Kho Kho Association
- Maharashtra Olympics Association
- Board of Control for Cricket in India President 2005–2008
- International Cricket Council President
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