Sharad Pawar discharged from Breach Candy; Sunetra Pawar's awaited visit never happened

NCP (Sharad Pawar) president Sharad Pawar has been sent home from Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai after recovering from breathlessness and a chest infection. The family had indicated earlier that he could leave around 11 am on Saturday, November 7.

Pawar, 85, first went into Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune on November 2. He was released on November 4 and went to Silver Oak, his Mumbai residence. His condition worsened that evening and he was taken to Breach Candy for further treatment. He has thus been treated at two hospitals, one in Pune and one in Mumbai. His daughter and Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule had said on Friday that some medical tests were being carried out and that all his health parameters were stable.

Leaders from across party lines kept track of his health. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him on Wednesday. Family friend and close associate Vitthal Maniyar told reporters outside the hospital that the call had taken place, and that Modi urged Pawar to put his health first and rest well. Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee also phoned to enquire. Sources said Parth Pawar and Jay Pawar spoke to him by phone too.

Visitors at the hospital included Jayant Patil, Sanjay Raut, Jitendra Awhad, Sushilkumar Shinde and, on Friday, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani.

The visit that drew the most attention was by Praful Patel, who belongs to the Ajitdada faction of the NCP. He came on Thursday and talked with Pawar for about an hour and a half. Afterwards, Patel said, "I had gone to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai for a courtesy visit to the respected Shri Sharad Pawar Saheb and asked about his health." Pawar is said to have told him they would meet after the 10th, and talk has begun about what this could mean for state politics.

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar was also expected at the hospital. She is said to have asked for time to meet Pawar three times, yet never arrived, and she had not come even on the day he was discharged. Surprise has been expressed in political circles, and speculation has followed.

The timing has been linked to a remark made a day earlier by Sunil Tatkare, state president of the Ajitdada faction. He spoke of a merger of the two NCP parties, saying the faction had held meetings on the subject and that he had been briefed on it. Since then, talk of the two parties reuniting has gathered pace. Some say the remark came at precisely the right moment. Whether it was the reason Sunetra Pawar stayed away is, for now, only a question and nothing more.