Sharad Pawar keen to be a part of NDA after exit polls have predicted that the BJP led alliance are heading for sweeping victory.
There have been reports in media about NCP leader Praful Patel will join BJP after the Lok Sabha polls. However, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde has rubbished talks about Patel joining the saffron party. According to Munde, NCP chief Sharad Pawar is spreading these rumours as he is keen to have an alliance with the NDA after exit polls have predicted that the BJP led coalition will sweep polls. Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule was spotted in a car along with Senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde in south Mumbai.
Praful Patel, whose NCP has been having an alliance with the Congress since 1999 said, “The question is whether they will get mandate. Only time will tell if they need the support of other parties. But there should be a stable government at the centre.”
Patel refused to comment on whether his party will support the NDA said, “Don’t draw us into conjecture. We have been a UPA ally but the real issue is that stable government should be formed in the centre. As far as we are concerned, NCP has always acted as a responsible political party.”
A close source from NCP said, “The exit polls have predicted that NDA will emerge victorious. We might join the NDA if the need arises.”
Gopinath Munde has clarified that there is “no place” for Patel in BJP, and he will also not allow the NCP to form an alliance with NDA.
According to Gopinath Munde, “Sharad Pawar is responsible for the rumours about Patel joining the BJP which were reported by a Marathi newspaper earlier this week.”
The senior BJP leader also said his party may win 235 to 240 Lok Sabha seats and would get a clear majority with the help of its allies. In this scenario, NDA would not need the support of other parties to form the government, Munde said.
In the past too speculation were rife about Sharad Pawar joining the NDA after a newspaper report pertaining to Sharad Pawar having a secret meeting with Narendra Modi. Initially, NCP denied the report but later accepted that Sharad Pawar had a meeting with Narendra Modi.
The rumours about Sharad Pawar joining NDA too began for the second time when he supported Narendra Modi stating that there was no need for a debate on Mr Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots when he was given a clean chit.
Former BJP president Nitin Gadkari said, “Sharad Pawar has not approached us, nor have we approached them. But there are no enemies in politics. Even if the BJP gets a majority, doors of the NDA are open to other parties. There is no proposal from NCP to BJP nor any proposal from BJP to NCP. In politics there are no permanent enemies.”
