Pawar compares Modi to inflated balloon

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar Friday compared Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to an "inflated balloon", and said it would "burst soon".

"In my entire political career spanning nearly 50 years, I have learnt that the more a balloon is inflated, the sooner it bursts," Pawar said on the growing clamour within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for Modi to take a commanding position for the next Lok Sabha elections.

On Modi's projection as the prime ministerial candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Pawar said: "People who are projected for the coveted post (of prime minister) hardly reach there."

The NCP chief was speaking to reporters after addressing a party meeting here Friday afternoon.

Responding to whether he supported Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's view of capping the retirement age for politicians at 65, Pawar said that in politics it is the people who decide when a politician should retire.

He, however, added that he would not contest the next Lok Sabha elections. "I am not going to contest the elections. But I am not retiring from politics," he said with a smile.