Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had proposed a tie-up with his party after the 2019 Maharashtra elections but he had promptly refused the idea of the alliance as he was not in favour of it.
Referring to the proposal from the BJP, Pawar said: “It is true that there was a discussion about an alliance between our two parties. The Prime Minister said we should think about it… However, I told him right in his office that it was not possible and I would not like to keep them in the dark.”
Sharad Pawar made these remarks at the launch event of Ashtavdhani, a coffee table book published by Loksatta to mark his 81st birthday. Loksatta is a Marathi daily newspaper of The Indian Express Group.
Pawar also revealed that he had made a 'mischievous' statement at that time by saying NCP was seriously considering the offer by BJP.
Pawar further said that his remarks on NCP considering the proposed alliance is probably what had made Shiv Sena move towards an alliance with Congress and NCP. “This probably sowed doubt in the mind of Shiv Sena, which stepped forward for an alliance with Congress and NCP,” he said.
As the Shiv Sena and BJP alliance was broken during the 2019 elections in Maharashtra, the latter emerged as a single party against the alliance of Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena. The BJP could not form a government in the state.
The NCP chief was also asked whether he had sent his nephew Ajit Pawar to join hands with BJP. He replied that if he had really sent Ajit to the BJP to form a government in Maharashtra then he would have ensured the aliance stayed in power.
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Talking about the performance of PM Modi, Pawar said: “He is ready to put in a lot of hard work and give time… He believes in taking the task he has taken up to its logical conclusion. He pays a lot of attention to the administration. However, if the general public’s problems are not resolved, the impact will not be seen… I find him lagging here. He believes in strong implementation of policy decisions and he has his own style of taking his government forward.”
