New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended an invite to National Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar to join the alliance of Bharatiya Janata Party after the results for the Lok Sabha elections on June 4. In his message to senior Pawar at a rally in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar, the prime minister said, “…instead of dying by merging with the Congress, come to Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde.”
Responding to the invite, Pawar said that he would never ditch the Nehru-Gandhi ideology and join hands with those who adopt an anti-Muslim stand.
Modi on Friday took a jibe at the NCP (SP) leader’s recent statement that smaller regional parties may come closer to or merge with the Congress in the coming years.
Without mentioning his name, the prime minister called Pawar’s party the “nakli (fake) NCP” and said it would be better if it joined the BJP-led coalition in Maharashtra “with pride” than merge with the Congress and “die in four days”.
The NCP (SP) leader had earlier, on Thursday, said that voting in the first three phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections has unsettled PM Modi and he has openly started mentioning Muslim community in his speeches.
“He has started making a mention of Muslim community openly (in his speeches). It seems he thinks that the situation would change by bringing in communal thoughts. It is my observation that some people in his party think that as the phases complete, his position is getting in danger,” the former Union minister had told reporters in Satara.
After his attack, PM Modi, at a rally in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district the next day, mocked Pawar for making “wild statements” despite being a “tall leader with a experience of 40-50 years in Maharashtra politics”.
“After the Baramati election, he is frustrated and disappointed. After discussing with a lot of people, he made a statement. He has said that if smaller regional parties have to survive in politics, they will have to merge with Congress,” the prime minister further said.
