'Instead of dying with Congress...': PM Modi offers Sharad Pawar place in BJP-led NDA, NCP(SP) chief says no

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

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

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

More from India

'First Assam visit after Op Sindoor': PM Modi inaugurates projects worth Rs 18,530 cr India to host fifth Coast Guard Global Summit in Chennai in 2027

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

“This means the nakli NCP and nakli Shiv Sena have made up their minds 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, PM Narendra Modi says, "After elections in Baramati, a big leader of Maharashtra has been so worried that he has given a statement and I think he must have consulted with many people before that statement. He is so… pic.twitter.com/4PCsFyHEpH

— ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

'New dawn': PM Modi meets Manipur violence victims in first visit since 2023 unrest

CP Radhakrishnan takes oath as Vice President of India

Pawar says no, thank you

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

“PM Modi’s recent speeches have been conducive to creating rifts among communities, which is dangerous for the country. Wherever things are not in the nation’s interest, neither I nor my colleagues will venture,” the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief said.

Pawar also said that he would never alienate himself from Nehru-Gandhi ideology.