Shobhaa De | Of Gujjus & Maharashtrians: Will Pawar show who’s boss?

We Maharashtrians are the most “khaddus” people on earth. I suspect nobody likes us. I mean… I also think we don’t like ourselves, forget others! There’s something almost perverse about the Maharashtrian psyche: While we always puff our chests with pride in public and go into the “Me, Marathi” mode with non-Maharashtrians, there is zero sense of unity… no feelings of kinship, leave aside love for fellow Maharashtrians.

I watched a mixed-up but charming film titled Satyaprem ki Katha recently. It was goofy, immature and pretty idiotic. But the Gujjus in the hall loved it! Why? Because it was about Gujjus… And they enjoy being all things Gujju. They identify as “Gujjus’’, and that identity is a matter of great “gaurav” for them, a badge that unites all the various factions within the community. Not so for Maharashtrians. The first thing we do is look for faults: our differences. Next, we focus on caste hierarchies. Feel superior to our neighbours. Turn up our noses at mixed gatherings where lesser beings are also present. Make snarky remarks about all and sundry. Naturally, we aren’t the most popular folks to hang out with. And it’s not like we hang out with our own kind either… we hate everybody. Besides, who qualifies as being our own kind… mere apne? Not even blood relatives!

Take that, Ajit Pawar.

It’s safe to conclude Maharashtrians trust no one. Not even their own shadows.

The Marathi Manoos is a strange beast: neither fish nor fowl. But, my goodness, don’t ask about the conceit component. We call it parochial pride in our identity: “Intellectual Warriors”. But it is something else. We love jhagdas… provided we win the round. We make poor, sore losers: right now, the biggest loser in Maharashtra seems to be Sharad Pawar. But don’t be fooled. He is by far the shrewdest politician in India. And the toughest. Those who are writing him off gleefully need to revisit the well-documented Sharad Pawar saga. The Strongman has seen them come and go… and seen off most contemporaries. He ain’t going anywhere. Don’t expect Saheb to walk off into the sunset anytime soon.

If there’s one politico who’s an expert at buying over the harshest adversaries, it is Pawar. This fighting spirit is tied to sound commercials -- bijness. Money not just talks, it hollers.

Maharashtrians aren’t good with money. They aren’t “born business people’’, like, say, the Marwaris or Sindhis. Plus, they are notoriously kanjoos. But they sure as hell know one attribute that’s a pre-requisite for survival in challenging environments: self-interest. Nobody is really thinking about Maharashtra’s interest at the moment. The fight is over the spoils. How to divide up the massive loot accumulated over decades. Just like the Gandhi family: only more loot, according to estimates of the Pawar wealth. If Sonia Gandhi has had to worry about an adventurous son-in-law all her political life, Sharad Pawar has been blessed… or burdened… with an ambitious nephew. Both Robert Vadra and Ajit Pawar have outlived their respective uses. And both Sonia and Sharad refuse to quit. The debate isn’t about gender or age. It’s about control and perception. Are they still in charge of their flocks? Or are they just hanging on to the keys of the tijori like mean-spirited, semi-senile Daadimas in extended joint families. In that sense, Sonia Gandhi must have been a Maharashtrian in her last life… she shares the same characteristics with our NCP chieftain when it comes to playing power games.

Maharashtrians don’t have “jigri dosts”. I sometimes feel that classic song “Dost, dost na raha… pyaar, pyaar na raha…” was composed by a Maharashtrian for Maharashtrians as an anthem for Maharashtrians. In reality, the song from the 1964 movie Sangam was sung by Mukesh and pictured on Raj Kapoor (both non-Maharashtrian). It had elements of victimisation and martyrdom. Betrayal and self-pity. The lyrics are still popular and resonate with millions. Perhaps it will offer a bit of comfort to Sharad Pawar as he licks his wounds and gets nostalgic about Praful Patel.

Hectic haggling is afoot… who gets what and when. Patel’s major handicap is his surname. There’s an insurmountable hurdle right there: how can a Patel from Gujarat aspire to be anything but an aide to a Maratha? Which self-respecting Maratha would accept Praful Patel as the boss of the party… a worthy successor to Pawar, regardless of the man’s ability or performance? His closeness to the Pawar parivaar is what propelled suave Praful’s career. He was seen as a confidant, a powerhouse, a loyal ally. But Patel must have known all along he’d reach this far and no further. The grassroots party worker, steeped in caste and hierarchies, never did accept an “outsider” like Patel as leader. He didn’t enjoy a political base, despite his high-profile persona and reputation as a dynamic doer. Let’s overlook the Air India fiasco, for now.

It's said today, now the rift is wide open, that Patel was kept on ice for years by the BJP top brass when he was begging for an appointment to meet the bosses and tell them he was ready to jump ship and abandon his mentor. Whispers abound of a BJP leader commenting aloud: “How can we trust Patel? If he can betray his godfather, how will he be loyal to us?” Good question.

Now the bickering is limited to who gets which post. Everyone involved in the ongoing Pawar war is angling for Cabinet posts, and the general assumption is that Supriya Sule will bag it before anybody else. All sorts of calculations are being tabled… which is a wasteful exercise. The only thing that eventually counts is the “setting”: payoffs, deals, tradeoffs and write-offs. With so many complicated legal matters cooking, the juicy posts will go to those who can arrive with the biggest kitty to broker a political compromise that will take care of pending, highly incriminating ED and other cases. This is only possible at the highest level. Strange, it boils down to Gujjus versus Maharashtrians. Cunning and commerce go hand in hand with Gujjus. Maharashtrians aren’t the world’s brightest business community… even if the Pawars managed to outwit and outbid rivals to acquire assets that make the mind boggle.

India is waiting to see how and when this pitched battle ends. All it may take is one more rain-soaked marathon speech in a huge maidan from Sharad Pawar to assert himself once again and show the pretenders who’s the boss. This isn’t a lion in winter defending his lair… Or solitary cub. This is a tiger staking territorial rights and feeding rivals to hyenas. It’s not over till the Fat Man sings….!