Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar’s comments praising Rahul Gandhi’s emergence as a matured leader indicate that NCP is keen to revive alliance with Congress party ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly polls. Speaking highly of Rahul Gandhi, Pawar said that he is willing to learn and understand the issues faced by the nation. Pawar added that ‘acche din’ is in store for Congress party and the party can be revived if people come forward to support it. He called for strong opposition for strengthening the democracy.
NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik stated that NCP already had a meeting with Congress and its outcome was positive. He said, “We will be having a meeting with Congress party on February 26. We will discuss issues like Dharma Patil suicide, loan waiver scheme, unemployment and other aspects.”
While criticising the working style of Modi government, he expressed, “There is no team work and Modi is handling everything singlehandedly. For running a country you must have a team.”
This is not the first time the NCP Chief has lauded Rahul Gandhi as earlier too he had applauded the Gandhi scion and said that he is a hardworking leader and is a far different leader from the one projected by BJP on social media. Pawar has been calling for like-minded parties to join hands to challenge BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.
BJP MP Gopal Shetty said that even if Congress and NCP come together, it won’t make any difference due to the scams that had occurred during their reign. He said, “I don’t think that both these parties have gained any ground. These outfits have realised that they have become weak, hence, they are planning to go for alliance. Modi government is doing good work at the centre and Fadnavis government is performing better in the state.”
When asked about Sharad Pawar’s motive behind attacking Modi he replied, “Pawar is a clever politician and he is criticising Modi as he is worried. He is only misguiding people by praising Atal Bihari Vajpayee and attacking Modi. People know that only Modiji can improve the situation of this country,” he added.
Few days back, state leaders of the both Congress and NCP held a meeting to avert the division of secular votes. The Congress-NCP had ruled Maharashtra for 15 years but both outfits ended the alliance ahead of the 2014 state assembly polls, a decision which cost them heavily, as they only managed to win 42 and 41 seats respectively. Even though both these parties had fought Lok Sabha polls together but they managed to win only two and four seats. Since last year Congress and NCP had given indications to stitch together an alliance to challenge BJP.
Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Surve said, “The graph of Modi government is going down as they are only giving false assurance to people. Already there are low literacy rates in villages and shortage of electricity is also a big concern. At a time when farmer suicides are increasing, the Modi government is talking about introducing bullet trains and is not paying attention to improving the existing railway infrastructure.”
When asked whether Congress-NCP alliance will have any impact on state’s politics he replied, “Yes it will avert the division of votes.”
Right now NCP’s base has weakened in the state after its dismal performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Therefore, Pawar is keen to strengthen the party by having a tie up with Congress.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA Waris Pathan said, “The Congress has ruled the country for more than 60 years but no development is visible. Even now, the BJP government has failed to deliver. Thus both these parties have failed to perform. And, if this situation continues, countrymen will definitely show BJP the door, the way it warned Congress in 2014.”
