Sharad Pawar was born on 12th December, 1940 in Baramati in Maharashtra to Govindrao Pawar and Shardabai. The couple raised 11 children and granted competent education to most of them. Sharad studied at Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce in Pune. He was an average student but took active participation in student’s politics. He got married on 1st August 1967 with Pratibha. The couple has a daughter, Supriya, who is also a Member of Parliament.
Sharad Pawar entered the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in the year 1967 from Baramati, representing undivided Congress party. However, he parted from Congress party to form a coalition Government with the opposition party ‘Jan Sangh’ in the year 1978. At that very year he became the Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra for the first time. But this ‘Progressive Democratic Front’ was dismissed in 1980 by Indira Gandhi’s government in centre. As a result Sharad Pawar became the head of the opposition in the state assembly. In 1984, he won the Lok Sabha elections for the first time from Baramati constituency. In 1985, he won the state assembly elections also from Baramati and decided to continue in the state politics only.
He resigned from the Lok Sabha seat. In 1987, Sharad Pawar went back to Congress (I) after nine years. In 1988, Rajiv Gandhi who was the Prime Minister at that time replaced Shankarrao Chavan and made Sharad Pawar as the Chief Minister of the state. Shankarrao Chavan was made the finance Minister. Sharad Pawar was asked to keep an eye and check over the rise of Shive sena in the state politics. In 1990, state elections BJP-Shiv Sena alliance did pose a problem for Congress but the party managed to win over 141 seats out of 288 seats. And with the support of twelve independent MLAs, Sharad Pawar again took the oath of Chief Minister. Soon after this, in the year 1991, Lok Sabha elections were held in which Congress won 38 out of 48 seats of Parliamentary assembly. After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narsimha Rao took over as Prime Minister of India.
Sharad Pawar was allocated the Ministry of Defence. But Sudhakarrao Naik, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra dropped his responsibility and Sharad Pawar again became the Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time. During this tenure of his, in 1993, Mumbai witnessed terrible serial bomb blasts. In the following state assembly elections in 1995, Sharad Pawar and Congress lost the reign to BJP-Shiv Sena alliance that won 138 seats and formed the government.
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In the year 1999, Sharad Pawar founded Nationalist Congress Party along with P.A. Sangma. But in 2004, he joined the Congress led UPA government as the Union Minister of Agriculture and Food. In 2009 he was made the Union Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Wheat scam was exposed during this tenure only and the allegations of his involvement in the whole episode were made by the opposition parties.
In 2005 he headed the BCCI and in 2007 he was made the Vice-President of ICC. In 2010 he became the President of ICC.
Several charges and allegations of involving in corruption cases and his links with underworld mafia had been made in the past against Mr. Pawar. He was also held responsible and criticized for the recent price hike of basic commodities.