No 2 spot: Career graphs of Antony, Pawar show similar

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The tussle for No 2 position in UPA-II has put the spotlight on the political careers of A.K. Antony and Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, which show striking similarities.

The two seasoned politicians share almost the same growth trajectory in the political landscape. Both left Congress during the period after Emergency, became Chief Ministers in their late thirties and were sent back from the Centre to assume chief ministership.

Both were three-time Chief Ministers and held same portfolios -- Defence and Civil Supplies -- at different times in the Union Cabinet.

After the exit of Pranab Mukherjee from the government to contest the Presidential poll, there was speculation that 72-year-old Pawar had taken the number two position when he sat next to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a Cabinet meeting two weeks ago.

However, in the subsequent Cabinet meeting, Antony was allocated the seat next to the Prime Minister, making it clear that he had been given the number two position in the government in place of Mukherjee.

This reportedly made Pawar unhappy and triggered protests by him and his party NCP, which cited his 'stature' to have the position next to the Prime Minister only. Seeking to defuse the situation, Antony has said there is 'no junior or senior' in the Union Cabinet.

While questions have been raised over who deserves to be the number two in the government, the career graphs of the two show that both came to prominence in politics in 1972 when Pawar became a minister in Maharashtra and Antony successfully challenged then strongman K. Karunakaran to become the youngest party chief in Kerala.

But Antony was the first to become Chief Minister in April 1977 when he replaced Karunakaran. Pawar had to wait for a little over an year but when he became one, Antony had already resigned from the post.