Sadashivrao Pawar (S.J. Pawar) alias Khaserao Pawar, also known as Shrimant Khan Saheb Pawar was an elected member of the Bombay Legislative council from the Poona District Non-Mohammedan Rural constituency. Though we do not come across his birth details, his contribution listed below features him as a significant regional face who vehemently opposed the autocracies of the empire.
After the general elections of 1923, the depressed classes in the Bombay presidency were trying to find adequate representation in the Bombay Legislative assembly. A general idea among people in the council was the formation of two new Hindu ministers, one Brahmin and the other non-Brahmin.
Consequently, the Non-Brahmin Party led by Bhaskarrao Jadhav was divided in its opinion about its leadership. In a meeting, held on 11 December 1926, the local leaders of the Non-Brahmin Party in Satara, addressed a mass meeting in Arthur Square Garden, Satara. In this meeting, they pleaded with the Governor of Bombay to appoint Pawar, formally as a minister and representative of non-Brahmins in the Bombay Legislative Council. Satara being the constituency of Bhaskarrao Vithojirao Jadhav the predominating Non-Brahmin’s Party leader, the split of power was inevitable. As a response, Pawar went on to garner popular support outside Satara including in Bombay city. Where in a meeting conducted at the residence of Mahadeo Sawant (Bombay), it was held that the absence of a non-Brahmin minister would mean deliberate negligence of the government, towards the rights of the depressed classes. The speakers expressed their explicit faith in the leadership of Kaserao Pawar as a minister representing the non-Brahmin Party. He was also praised to have championed the cause of the Non-Brahmin Party. During later 1926, The popular talk in influential circles in Bombay was that of Kaserao Pawar and Dr.. R. P. Paranjpye bringing about a coalition between the Brahmin and the Non-Brahmin elements of the council. It was also predicted that they would form a united front among the Nationalists, Independents, Responsivists, and Liberals. Shrimant Kaserao Pawar, thus emerge as an inspiring and bold persona who can be remembered as a bridging voice of diverse opinions and parties for the cause of upliftment of the depressed classes of Bombay presidency.
The information regarding the demise of Kaserao Pawar is unfortunately not known to us for a tributary remembrance.