Taking aim at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday remarked that the days of “one-person rule” were over as the new Central government could not have been formed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) without support of other parties.
“The ‘Modi guarantee’ is now over, a change made possible by the power of the voters,” said the 83-year-old Mr. Sharad Pawar, speaking in Baramati (in Pune district) where he is on a three-day visit.
Mr. Sharad Pawar, whose party notched up wins on eight of the 10 Lok Sabha seats it contested, was on a visit to Baramati’s Purandar taluk, which is presently facing acute water scarcity.
“For the last 10 years, the country’s government had been a one-person system, but now, after this general election, it has been freed from that. The Central government was formed with the help of other parties. The situation was such that the government could not be formed without the help of the Chief Ministers of Bihar [Nitish Kumar] and Andhra Pradesh [N. Chandrababu Naidu], which means the days of one person running the government had ended. It also means that Mr. Modi’s much-vaunted guarantee is over and the power to end it lies with the people,” said Mr. Sharad Pawar.
He said the Lok Sabha election outcome indicated a similar result would be repeated in the State Assembly election.
“After the Lok Sabha election results are replicated in the Assembly election, I will give the reins of the State to the hands of the people and this power will be used to address pressing issues. For that, I need your [people’s] co-operation,” Mr. Sharad Pawar told the gathering.
The NCP (SP) chief had routed the rival NCP faction led by his rebellious nephew, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, in the recent Lok Sabha election, with his daughter Supriya Sule winning the fiercely-contested Baramati Lok Sabha seat by defeating her sister-in-law Sunetra Pawar (Mr. Ajit Pawar’s wife).
The NCP (SP) had also scored wins over the ruling BJP candidates in Ahmednagar and Beed, where Nilesh Lanke and Bajrang Sonawane defeated Sujay Vikhe-Patil and Pankaja Munde respectively. Both Mr. Lanke and Mr. Sonawane had been part of Mr. Ajit Pawar’s faction, but were wooed by Sharad Pawar ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
The NCP (SP)’s stunning performance prompted rumours of the defection of legislators from the Ajit Pawar camp.
Speaking in Mumbai on Wednesday, NCP (Ajit Pawar) faction State chief Sunil Tatkare denied such speculation, while counter-claiming that MLAs from Mr. Sharad Pawar’s camp were in fact in touch with his party.
Mr. Tatkare, the sole winning candidate from Mr. Ajit Pawar’s faction in this election (he won the Raigad seat), further pointed to reported schisms within the NCP (SP), alluding to tensions between Rohit Pawar (Mr. Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew) and Jayant Patil, who is the NCP (SP) State chief, remarking that “all was not well” within Mr. Sharad Pawar’s party.
At the NCP (SP)’s Foundation Day celebrations in Ahmednagar earlier this week, Mr. Rohit Pawar, without naming Mr. Patil, had taken jibes at the latter over a number of issues, including organisational matters pertaining to the NCP (SP).
Published - June 13, 2024 03:14 am IST
