Sena should decide on its exact role: Pawar

NCP president Sharad Pawar today said the Shiv Sena is speaking truth on issues such as inflation, but it should first decide whether it wants to be an opposition party or a ruling ally.
"Shiv Sena is sharing power with the BJP in the Centre and the state. It is commendable that the party is speaking truth about the price hike and disappointing performance by the state and Union governments," Pawar said here.
"But at the same time, Shiv Sena must decide its policy....it is difficult to understand (currently) whether it is a ruling party or opposition," Pawar told reporters here.

Pawar attended a number of functions here including inauguration of the administrative building of Radhabai Kale Women's College of the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha.
Asked about RPI leader and union minister Ramdas Athawale's claim that NCP would support the BJP if the Sena decides to pull out of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra, Pawar said "nobody takes Athawale seriously".
The NCP chief also criticised Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project as "a white elephant" which would put a huge financial burden on Maharashtra.

The money could have been used for irrigation projects in the state, he said.
He also alleged that the BJP-led state government was delaying the implementation of its farm loan waiver scheme by announcing new conditions for eligibility.

Commenting on his party's loss in the election to Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation near Pune, Pawar said the civic body under NCP had done a lot of work. The poll results were quite strange, and hence claims about use of malfunctioning Electronic Voting Machines during the election should be probed, he said.