BJP asks Pawar, NCP to set its own house in order first

Objecting to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's recent comments against the Bharatiya Janata Party and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said Saturday that both Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) needed to set their "political" house in order first.

Addressing media on the sidelines of the first day of the BJP's National Executive meeting here, Javadekar said: "The NCP should should look at their own affairs and not advise us."

Javadekar was referring to the resignations of NCP ministers from the Maharashtra Cabinet, suggesting a reshuffling of portfolios.

Pawar on Friday had likened Modi to an "inflated balloon" that would "burst" soon.

"In my political career spanning 40-50 years, I have found that the more a balloon is inflated, the sooner it bursts," he said.

Pawar was asked to comment on the buzz in the BJP about Modi becoming the chairman of its campaign committee for the general elections, and that this would firmly pitch him as the party's prime ministerial candidate.

He said that this would be short-lived appointment.