In Maharashtra, the wrestling mat is political turf, and Rohit Pawar's bout has just begun

The Print

7 hours ago

Rohit Pawar, following in the footsteps of his grandfather Sharad Pawar, assumed the role of president of Maharashtra Rajya Kustigir Parishad (Maharashtra State Wrestling Association) last month. Octogenarian Pawar helmed the organisation for four decades. Rohit Pawar's unopposed election, however, is hardly undisputed.
Just like Maharashtra's politics, its wrestling scene has also been on the boil, the former spilling over into the latter. With elections to urban and rural local bodies scheduled in the next few months across Maharashtra, the politics of wrestling is heating up.
Mumbai: Rohit Pawar, MLA and grandnephew to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar, organised the 'Maharashtra Kesari', the state's most prestigious wrestling tournament, in his home district in March this year. It would have been nothing unusual, except for another 'Maharashtra Kesari'—organised by an association led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ramdas Tadas—concluding less than two months ago.
The Tadas-led Maharashtra Kustigir Sangh questions the very existence of the parishad, claiming to be the official wrestling body of Maharashtra. The parishad also has another faction, which went to the polls nearly two weeks before Rohit Pawar's election and formed its panel of office-bearers.
Politically, there is a lot at stake. Wrestling is a popular sport in the rural areas of Maharashtra. It draws large crowds of spectators and the attention of sponsors, with organisers extracting significant mileage from these events.
Moreover, wrestlers are like local celebrities in their villages and talukas, and close networking with them has always helped politicians on the ground. Several wrestlers, such as BJP's former MP Tadas and Union Minister of State Murlidhar Mohol, have themselves turned politicians.
'It was former CM Yashwantrao Chavan, who first gave a lot of impetus to local arts and sports from Maharashtra, and then, Sharad Pawar pushed sports, such as kho kho, kabaddi, and kusti (wrestling) to the next level. The Congress gained a lot of goodwill in the state from this,' said political commentator Hemant Desai.
Pawar—then, a leader of Congress—formed the NCP in 1999. The party founder's position in the state's wrestling scene helped the NCP take root firmly in rural Maharashtra.
'Wrestling is very popular, especially in districts such as Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, and Pune in Western Maharashtra, where Congress, and later NCP, has been strong,' Desai said. 'Most wrestlers and their followers are from the agrarian Maratha community. The sugar factories in the belt have, over the years, supported wrestling contests. All of it helped build Sharad Pawar's politics. Now, we can see Rohit Pawar trying to walk the same path.'
Karjat Jamkhed MLA Rohit Pawar did not respond to ThePrint's calls and text messages.
Wrestling in politics
It was Mamasaheb Mohol, a noted Indian wrestler, who founded the Maharashtra Rajya Kustigir Parishad and started the 'Maharashtra Kesari' wrestling tournament. Mamasaheb's popularity as a wrestler helped him build a career in politics. He used to oscillate between the Congress and the NCP.
His son, Ashok Mohol—though not a wrestler—fought on NCP ticket and was an MP from Khed in Pune district from 1998 to 2004.
'Now, everyone goes to a modern gym, but earlier, when there were no gyms, people used to go to akharas for training in wrestling and strength. The sport was especially popular among the Bahujan Samaj and the Marathas. Wrestling had nothing to do with politics. But the games are quite popular and draw crowds. Soon, political karyakartas (party workers) got into the game, one way or another. Politicians realised that if they move around with a popular wrestler, people follow,' Anant Gadgil, a Pune-based Congress leader and former MLC, told ThePrint.
Gadgil said the glamour of wrestling slightly reduced as more entertainment avenues became available over time. The popularity of the sport dipped in cities, but it still holds appeal in rural areas, he said.
Wrestlers still have the clout to help politicians move the needle, even if slightly.
For instance, when BJP leader Murlidhar Mohol contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Pune, wrestlers from across the district were a substantial part of his campaign. Mohol, now a Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, comes from a family of wrestlers, and he trained as one in Pune and Kolhapur before formally entering politics.
A Congress leader who did not wish to be named said, 'In the run-up to the election, Murlidhar Mohol held a gathering of all members from the wrestling community. Many Congress workers ended up going because of the wrestling connection. There was a feeling within the party that our candidate against Mohol was not very strong, and many of our people ended up campaigning for Mohol due to his popularity within the wrestling circles.'
For the same election, the first key battle for the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) after the 2022 split of the Shiv Sena, Thackeray picked a wrestler, Chandrahar Patil, to contest the Sangli parliamentary constituency. In his first campaign speech in front of Uddhav Thackeray, Chandrahar Patil announced that it was official that the 25 Maharashtra Kesaris and 11 Hind Kesaris in the crowd backed him.
Politics and wrestling, he said, are often spoken of under the same breath, but so far, 'politicians have only used wrestlers for their benefit'. He lauded Uddhav Thackeray for not using wrestlers to campaign for him, and instead, picking him to contest.
Ultimately, Patil lost the election amid infighting within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), an alliance of Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharadchandra Pawar-led NCP, and the Congress. A rebel Congress candidate, Vishal Patil, contesting as an Independent, who local Congress leaders like Vishwajeet Kadam backed, won the election, getting 48.91 percent of the vote share. Chandrahar Patil got 5.2 percent only.
In June this year, Chandrahar Patil quit the Shiv Sena (UBT). Soon after, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena welcomed him with open arms, saying he came from a 'fake akhara to the real one'.
'In politics, we have beats. Some will handle the teachers' community and some will represent caste, religion, or specific communities to build a following for the party. Parties don't want to leave any beat uncovered. Pehelwan (wrestlers) is an important beat, the same way,' Rahul Londhe, a functionary from the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, told ThePrint.
'Districts such as Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Pune, Dharashiv, Latur across Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, and some parts of Vidarbha still have the old traditional taleems (wrestler training centres) alive. This entire belt is a fort of pehelwans,' he added.
Having networks in the wrestling community also helps mobilise people. Chandrahar Patil, for instance, got over a thousand wrestlers to participate in the Shinde-led Shiv Sena's 'Sindoor yatra' to commemorate Op Sindoor. These wrestlers boarded a train from Western Maharashtra to Jammu & Kashmir, visiting various places there and donating blood.
Speaking to ThePrint, Ramdas Tadas, former BJP MP from Wardha, said his achievements as a wrestler introduced him to politics. 'It helps a lot on the ground to be associated with awards, such as 'Vidarbha Kesari' and 'Maharashtra Kesari'. Politicians like to tap wrestlers for campaigning and candidature,' he said.
He added that, in a way, Rohit Pawar's election to the Maharashtra Rajya Kustigir Parishad is also Sharad Pawar's attempt to consolidate his hold on the goodwill associated with wrestlers for the NCP ahead of the upcoming local body polls.
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Politics in wrestling
The politics around the wrestling body began around the same time that the Maharashtra political scene turned turbulent. In June 2022, the Shiv Sena split when Eknath Shinde, now Deputy CM, walked out with a majority of MLAs to join hands with the BJP and come to power in the state. In July 2022, the Wrestling Federation of India dissolved the Sharad Pawar-led parishad. It had a five-year tenure, scheduled to end in 2023.
Speaking to ThePrint, Tadas said that he and a few others often heard complaints about irregularities in the parishad's functioning, including delays in holding certain competitions, during Sharad Pawar's tenure. 'Despite flagging it several times, he [Sharad Pawar] did not take action, so we took it up with the Wrestling Federation of India, which dissolved the committee,' Tadas said.
Around this time, Tadas and his associates established the Maharashtra Kustigir Sangh, which, he told ThePrint, now has the official approval of the Wrestling Federation of India. Those familiar with Maharashtra's wrestling scene said that the sangh set up by Tadas and associates had a clear influence of the BJP and Mahayuti loyalists and sympathisers. Tadas, who heads the sangh, said, 'The parishad has no relevance. We now have the official Maharashtra Kesari. We are the ones who send our wrestlers to national competitions.'
The Pawar-led parishad legally challenged the Wrestling Federation of India's decision to dissolve the committee. The Bombay High Court, in November 2022, ruled that the decision to dissolve the elected committee was 'illegal.' However, the court has so far not resolved the question of whether the Maharashtra Rajya Kustigir Parishad prevails, or the Maharashtra Kustigir Sangh, which has been pitching players to wrestling national and international competitions, prevails as the official federation of the state.
Meanwhile, the parishad has been divided into two factions.
'Some Sangh members engineered factionalism in the parishad. They want to show that the parishad is not stable. However, we have followed norms and conducted our elections. Thirty-three of the total 43 functional local-level wrestling units are enlisted with us,' Vijay Barate, the newly elected secretary of the Rohit Pawar-led kustigir parishad, told ThePrint. 'The kustigir sangh, made of mainly people leaning towards the BJP, is trying to take control of the wrestling administration entirely, so that they can hold glamorous competitions and use local wrestlers for their political goodwill, but in the end, our players are the ones suffering.'
On 25 June this year, Sharad Pawar sent a letter to all district wrestling associations on the elections to the parishad, announcing that the polls would take place 26 and 27 July. A retired judge of the Bombay High Court will act as the returning officer.
The other faction is steered by the kustigir parishad's ex-general secretary, Babasaheb Landge, who conducted an election 16 July and set up a committee.
On 3 July, Sharad Pawar sent Landge a letter, calling the 16 July poll illegal and directing Landge to explain the reasons for the 'outright violation of duties, roles and power'. On 26 and 27 July, the kustigir parishad conducted elections under the instruction of Pawar.
'From our point of view, the 16 July election was not illegal at all,' said Santosh Machutre, an office-bearer of the Pimpri Chinchwad Kustigir Sangh and supporter of Hanumant Gawde, who has emerged as the Landge faction's president.
'All districts support us. Our election was held, according to the guidelines, overseen by a retired judge. Hanumanth Gawde is an original pehelwan. He knows the game as well as the issues, closely. Our president is not one who only organises games and stands on the stage. We are people who constantly think about the wrestlers' benefit,' Machutre told ThePrint.
'Every leader wants to preserve their existence. All this factionalism is a result of that,' Machutre added. The faction, he said, took up the matter about Sharad Pawar declaring its elections 'illegal' with the Maharashtra Charity Commissioner's office.
Seniors in Maharashtra's wrestling arena now lament the seepage of party politics into wrestling administration, which has only created confusion in the game, with the players bearing the brunt.
'The kustigar parishad holds its 'Maharashtra Kesari'; the kustigir sangh holds its 'Maharashtra Kesari'. They say that if you don't participate in the events we host, we won't send you to nationals. It should be players running the association, not politicians,' Shrikrishna Barate, an old-timer in the wrestling circuit, told ThePrint. 'Politicians shouldn't introduce politics into the game. They should instead help in holding camps and give financial aid to players, most of whom come from very humble backgrounds.'
Barate himself has been a long-time Congress worker, but swears that he never brought politics into the game. Even during Murlidhar Mohol's campaign—he said—the BJP leader asked him to deliver a speech, but 'I told him I will steer clear of politics and only talk about what can be done for the game. And that's exactly what I did.'
Meanwhile, the Rohit Pawar-led committee has shrugged off any criticism of not being the official wrestling body. The newly elected committee held its first meeting Sunday at the YB Chavan Centre in Mumbai in the presence of Sharad Pawar as a mentor.
'We have started our work. There's merit in our case, and we are sure we will eventually get justice in court too,' Vijay Barate said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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