Pawar failure

The pilgrimages to Matoshree have begun again. Just as it appeared that the Shiv Senas vice-like grip on Mumbais public life was loosening,thanks to the forthrightness of a very few,Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has decided to help it tighten once again. The Senas ageing head,Bal Thackeray,declared recently that,because of the attacks on Indian students in Australia,Australian cricket players were not welcome in Mumbai. This is,of course,when coming from a Thackeray,not so much a careful observation of the citys mood as it is a direct threat of black flags,pitch invasions,and possible bodily harm. The response should be to ensure that security does not allow matches to be disrupted by Sena violence or even the fear of it. It cannot be done by humiliating Mumbai by appeasing its self-appointed supremo,by going to humbly explain,apologise,beseech,as Pawar did on behalf of Indian cricket on Sunday.

The one thing that should have been made clear by now is that the Thackerays retreat when stood up to. On his recent trip to Mumbai,Rahul Gandhi used his own background to make a point: his origins were mixed,he pointed out,his father born in Mumbai,his mother in Italy,his great-grandfather in Allahabad,yet his pride in his country was undiminished. This simple,yet eloquent,statement of a fundamental liberal principle so under threat in Mumbai seems to have rattled the NCP too. For,after all,if the Maharashtra state Congress is forced by Rahul Gandhis game-changing visit into articulating a more inclusive,aspirational idea of politics in the state,where does that leave its junior partner,the NCP,and its restrictive politics?

Elsewhere,too,the NCP struck discordant notes: its newspaper glibly advised people to eat less sugar as a solution to sky-high sugar prices. Clearly Pawar is under siege on two fronts. With the BJP too weighing a post-Sena political future in Maharashtra,his partys limited politics looks more and more outdated. But the UPA cannot afford him reacting with irresponsible stunts like the Thackeray meeting. The time has come to ensure that Pawar and his party are willing to pull together with a more responsible politics. The sight of one of the cabinets most senior ministers effectively going rogue is something that should put the UPA on high alert.