While the standoff between the NCP and the Congress continues over the alliance at the Centre and Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar‘s daughter and MP, Supriya Sule, said that the personal relations between her father and the Prime Minister could help sort things out.
Do Manmohan Singh and Sharad Pawar share a good enough relations to save the alliance? PTI
“They (PM and Pawar) are not just colleagues, they have a personal relationship that goes beyond the Cabinet. They have worked very closely over the years, were together in the P V Narasimha Rao government and they complement each other on economic reforms. Pawar is a big support for the PM,” Sule was quoted as saying in a Times of India interview.
The NCP MP also denied that she wanted a ministerial post or that they were seeking the removal of Maharashtra Chief Minister.
“How can we tell Congress who should be their CM? It is their prerogative. Would we like if they were to tell us who should be our deputy CM? NCP will never interfere in Congress affairs,” Sule said.
While Sule may claim they have nothing to do with it, the NCP in Maharashtra has been on the warpath against Chavan and even some Congress MLAs have told the party’s state chief that he should speak to the Chief Minister about his style of functioning.
However, columinst Sujata Anandan in the Hindustan Times has an interesting theory to offer on why Pawar is suddenly upset with his standing within the UPA government.
According to her, one of the reasons is that he doesn’t want to have to listen to Sushil Kumar Shinde, the Congress leader most likely to take Pranab Mukherjee‘s place in the Lok Sabha. What makes it worse for Pawar is that he reportedly views Shinde as a junior who he helped ascend the political ladder, she said.
Also Pawar may want Agatha Sangma out of the UPA government and replacing her with his daughter, according to the columnist.
The NCP has regularly denied that Pawar is least concerned about his his place in the government and that they are more concerned about the party’s functioning but as always for Pawar is it just finally about seating himself and his daughter where he wants?
