PM Modi offers Sharad Pawar a place in BJP-led NDA, NCP (SP) chief says no – Firstpost

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a post-poll bid for Maharashtra NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar. Modi invited Pawar to join hands with his nephew Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, both allied with the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Prime Minister Modi extended the offer to Pawar in response to the latter’s recent comment that he said Maharashtra’s smaller regional parties may merge with the Congress in the coming years.

Instead of ‘dying’ by merging with the Congress, PM Modi advised Pawar to unite with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde after the Lok Sabha elections.

Without mentioning names, PM Modi, at a rally in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar, said, “A big leader here, active for 40-50 years, is worried after the polls in Baramati (Lok Sabha seat ). He says that after June 4, small parties, to survive, will merge with the Congress.”

” It means that nakli PCN and nakli Shiv Sena has decided to merge with the Congress. But instead of dying by merging with the Congress, come to Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde,” the Prime Minister added.

#WATCH | Addressing a public meeting in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “After the Baramati elections, a big leader of Maharashtra was so worried that he made a statement and I think he had to consult many people before making this statement. SO… pic.twitter.com/4PCsFyHEpH

-ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Pawar says no, thanks

Meanwhile, Pawar was quick to reject PM Modi’s offer saying he cannot ally with someone who takes an “anti-Muslim” stance.

“Prime Minister Modi’s recent speeches have contributed to creating divisions between communities, which is dangerous for the country. Where things are not in the interest of the nation, neither I nor my colleagues will venture,” the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader said.

Pawar also said that he would never move away from the Nehru-Gandhi ideology.