In Maharashtra today, Sharad Pawar is Baramati and Baramati is Sharad Pawar. So no cause for alarm there. But Pawar will be biting his nails on February 28 when Pune, adjoining Baramati and undoubtedly the most prestigious seat in western Maharashtra, goes to the polls. For, the outcome in Pune shall decide the future of the Congress stalwart in an area which he still claims to be his.Pawar's political clout has been put to the ultimate test in his own backyard by one-time protege Suresh Kalmadi who deserted him to enter the fray as an independent supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine.Ever since Kalmadi walked out of the Congress with 41 party corporators and a dozen office-bearers to float the Pune Vikas Aghadi, the Maratha leader has been screaming revenge.In the run-up to February 28, Pawar has been getting his act together, succeeding in even shoring up the spirits of the Congress by posing a picture of unity with bete noire V.N. Gadgil. Pawar has also spent considerable timewith party local leaders and workers, sending clear signals that they unitedly take on Kalmadi.Courtesy Pawar, Pune is now poised for a cliff-hanger. Congress has fielded MLA Vitthal Tupe against Kalmadi, has wooed the Muslims and the Marathas in its bid to deny the "deserter" a second chance in Delhi.Kalmadi, who opened his account with a bang, now has the task of convincing not just the Marathas but also supporters of the BJP-Sena combine who have been grumbling ever since the saffron alliance decided not to put a candidate and back Kalmadi instead. Saffron cadres are being asked by the leadership to back a man who, until he deserted the Congress, was one of their most vocal critics.The Congress and BJP retain strong support bases in this constituency dominated by Maratha, Brahmin, Mali, Dalit and Muslim communities. The Shiv Sena wields clout in some pockets while the socialists retain a semblance of their earlier strength.Tupe, a former Janata Dal MLA-turned-Congressman with a socialistbackground, is expected to give Kalmadi a fight. In 1996, Kalmadi won the seat with a comfortable margin of 86,995 votes, contesting on the Congress ticket against the BJP's Girish Bapat. But the situation is very different now. Kalmadi's decision to leave the Congress has triggered a series of political re-alignments here.For the first time in recent years, the BJP's lotus symbol will not feature on the ballot paper; the leadership is backing Kalmadi for his reported efforts to help the BJP form a government at the Centre after the fall of the United Front Government.To Pawar's glee and Kalmadi's dismay, former bureaucrat-turned-social activist Avinash Dharmadhikari has also entered the fray as an independent. Not denying his close connections with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Dharmadhikari claims he is in the contest to ensure that Atal Behari Vajpayee becomes the next Prime Minister. He too is expecting votes from the same saffron kitty that Kalmadi has been eyeing.But more than whathappens to Kalmadi, all here are discussing Pawar. Does the Maratha still hold sway in the region or is he merely the Baramati man, a shadow of the strongman of yesteryear? A big question that.
