NCP boss goes out of way to praise MNS chief, annoy Shiv Sena
On a day when he predicted that the BJP would emerge as the single largest party in the lok Sabha polls but it would be difficult for the NDA to form a Government at the Centre, NCP chief Sharad Pawar set the cat among pigeons by heaping lavish praise on MNS chief Raj Thackeray.
Addressing a news conference at Alibaug in the adjoining Raigad district of coastal Konkan region, Pawar said on Wednesday: “The BJP will in all probability emerge as the single largest party in the lok Sabha polls, while the Congress will come very close to the BJP. But, it would be difficult for the NDA to reach that magical number to form a Government at the Centre.... It looks like the BJP would be able to improve its position in the polls”.
Accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, Pawar was at Alibaug to accompany the NCP’s candidate Sunil Tatkare to file nomination for lok Sabha polls and address a joint election rally.
Queried if his party that had won eight seats in the 2009 lS polls would reach a double digit figure in the current polls, Pawar replied in the affirmative and said: “Of course, we will get the number. We will definitely improve our position”.
More than his prediction that the BJP would perform better than the Congress in the lok Sabha polls, what set the tongues rolling in the State political circles was the fact that Pawar went out of the way to praise the MNS chief – a political ploy clearly intended to annoy Shiv Shiv president Uddhav Thackeray with whom the Maratha leader has been having running verbal duel in the recent days.
Pawar — who had on Tuesday rubbished Uddhav’s remark that the latter had blocked his entry to the NDA by dubbing the Sena president’s claim as a “joke of the year” —said that Raj had become a force to reckon with by setting up a political party and nurturing it on his own strength, while Uddhav had got everything on a platter from his late father.
“I feel pity for Uddhav (for his statement that he had blocked my entry to the NDA). ….The Shiv Sena was built by Uddhav’s father. He has got everything on a platter. But Raj has set up the party (MNS) of his strength and nurtured it. looking at the public response that he is getting at his election rallies, Raj cannot be taken lightly,” Pawar said.
By seeking to undermine Uddhav at the cost of his political rival-cousin Raj, Pawar has on one hand sought to settle his political scores with the Sena president, while on the other he has managed to keep the MNS chief in good humour.
At his news conference, the NCP president came down heavily on BJP’s Prime Ministerial Narendra Modi for lack of stature to head a coalition Government at the Centre.
“The stature of former Pprime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was much higher than that of Narendra Modi. Under the Vajpayee-led government, minority community members felt safe and secure. There was a feeling of relief among minorities as far as Vajpayee was concerned. I don’t see the same feeling towards this candidate,” Pawar said.
Asked if he attributed the likely increase in the BJP’s seat tally in the lS polls to either “Modi’s strong leadership or Rahul’s weak leadership”, Pawar remarked: “I have never before seen electronic media giving so much of time to one individual.”