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Journalism of Courage
Following in the footsteps of his great-uncle Sharad Pawar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo, the 37-year-old party MLA Rohit Pawar has made a foray into the field of cricketing administration, getting elected as the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) president Sunday.
“Cricket has always been my favourite game. Now I have got an opportunity to work for players through the MCA. I will take along everyone to ensure best results,” Rohit said soon after his election.
Rohit’s bid to venture into the tricky cricketing arena has also been marked with political manoeuvrings for which Pawar Senior is known for. This was reflected by his unopposed election as the MCA president as well as in the election of Kiran Samant as its vice-president.
Samant is the brother of Maharashtra industries minister Uday Samant, who is affiliated to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. Uday had joined the rebel Shinde camp last year when it moved with the BJP’s backing to topple the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government in which the NCP was a key ally.
This however did not deter Rohit from joining hands with Samant while running for MCA chief. Pawar Senior, who had been the chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well as the International Cricket Council (ICC), had also clinched the election for the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) president’s post in alliance with the BJP’s Ashish Shelar.
One of Pawar Senior’s grand nephews, Rohit made his electoral debut by contesting the Zilla Parishad election from Shirsuphal-Gunawadi constituency in Pune’s Baramati taluka in 2017.
Rohit went on to get elected to the Maharashtra Assembly on the NCP ticket from the Karjat-Jamkhed constituency in Ahmadnagar district with 1,35,824 votes in the 2019 polls. This was a relatively “difficult” seat as he had chosen to contest against then sitting minister and BJP MLA Ram Shinde.
Known as one of the vocal NCP MLAs, Rohit is often on the move, travelling through the state in a bid to reach out to the party’s youth workers. He has been trying to build his image as a leader engaged in the politics of development, industrialisation and youth-related issues.
Rohit had undertaken the Swarajya Dhwaj yatra in 2021, taking the saffron flag of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Swarajya throughout the state to connect with people from different castes, strata and communities. He finally hoisted this flag atop the Kharda fort in his constituency.
Speaking at a town hall hosted by The Indian Express, Rohit had said: “I visit temples like any Hindu would. But my Hinduism is different from the Hindutva propagated by others. There’s difference. I am as devout a Hindu as anyone. Let’s talk about development now.”
Rohit is an entrepreneur too. He is the CEO of Baramati Agro Ltd and has also been the Indian Sugar Mills Association president.
