Ten days ago, when Sharad Pawar introduced A.R. Antulay as the Congress-NCP candidate at a public meeting in Raigad district, it caused a flutter in the Congress camp. The party had not finalised its list of candidates then. And it was just the beginning.In the following week, the Congress followed what Pawar proposed. From seat-sharing to fielding Congress candidates, Pawar played a big role.So much so, during the seat-sharing the party conceded five such seats to the NCP where Congress would have won. In four of them — Bhandara, Washim, Prabhani and Hingoli — Congress had lost with a small margin in 1999.‘‘Our leaders have surrendered before Pawar,’’ fumed a Congress minister. ‘‘This way, they will finish off the Congress in Maharashtra and give the state to the NCP on a silver platter,’’ he remarked.When he sat across the table with Congress head honchos, Pawar got 18 seats for NCP and three for his allies. Congress was happy with 26.Further, he ‘‘guided’’ the Congress leaders on choosing their candidates in Maharashtra. For instance, former CM Antulay was fielded from Colaba (Raigad district) at Pawar’s behest. High-profile Suresh Kalmadi bagged the party nomination from Pune. Before that, he was often seen with Pawar, burying his hatchet with the Maratha strongman.After his return from the Sena camp, Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil preferred not to cross-swords with Pawar. And now, he is a star campaigner for the Congress-NCP alliance and is invited by Congress nominees to their campaign meetings.In fact, Pawar has already begun the show. He has addressed rallies and joint meetings of Congress and NCP workers for Antulay and Kalmadi. ‘‘It is an election pact and give and take is obvious,’’ insisted party spokesman Hussain Dalwai. ‘‘The bigger party always has to show some generosity when it comes to seat adjustment. Our aim is to defeat the NDA,’’ he said.
