Sharad Pawar praises Uddhav for rejuvenating Shiv Sena

The Maratha strongman blames Congress for snapping ties with NCP

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday showered praise on Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray for rejuvenating his party after the demise of Bal Thackeray.  

Even though Pawar and Uddhav are currently engaged in attacks and counter-attacks during the Assembly poll campaign, the NCP chief said Uddhav strengthened the Shiv Sena by sheer hard work.  He also pointed out that Shiv Sena had contributed a lot to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s victory in the Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra.

Pawar, who took out time during his busy poll campaign schedule, told reporters that a section of print and electronic media had already written off Uddhav’s leadership, questioning the fate of the Shiv Sena after Bal Thackeray’s death. “However, Uddhav strived to make Shiv Sena stronger,” he noted.

Pawar’s pat on Uddhav’s back comes at a time when both the NCP and the Shiv Sena are stepping up their attack against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for dividing Maharashtra and also for giving too much attention to the state Assembly poll instead of national security. This apart, Uddhav has targeted Pawar’s party on the irrigation scam and the alleged involvement of NCP ministers in various corruption cases.

This led to speculation that in the wake of a fractured mandate, the Shiv Sena and NCP might come together to form the government and to keep the two national parties — the BJP and the Congress out of power. However, Pawar clarified that his party is solely focussing on getting a majority to form the government on its own and it has not given any thought to post-poll alliances.

Meanwhile, Pawar on Sunday declared that he was not at all in the fray to become the chief minister of Maharashtra nor he was going to take up any administrative post. “After 48 years in electoral politics and in power for over three and half decades, I have decided not to take any administrative responsibility. I will be 75 soon and, therefore, I have decided to concentrate on organisational build-up and parliamentary work (being Rajya Sabha member),” he noted. Pawar thanked his party colleague and former Maharashtra minister for public works, Chhagan Bhujbal, for making a strong case for him to become chief minister after the Assembly election.

In answer to a question, Pawar said the Congress was responsible for breaking the alliance with the NCP in the Assembly poll. “The Congress had pre-decided. During negotiations, a seat-sharing arrangement could have been arrived at. However, the Congress kept the NCP waiting and announced its first list of candidates. This led the NCP to fight the Assembly poll separately,” he said. According to Pawar, the NCP had made preparations for 130 seats but after the Congress snapped ties, it had to put up candidates in 280 seats.

Pawar admitted that the Assembly poll was quite crucial especially as his party was going solo after the 1999 election. “We have worked for 60 per cent through NCP’s performance. The remaining 40 per cent is in the hands of voters,” he said.