The NCP on Sunday said the need for Opposition unity is paramount at this juncture in national politics and its party supremo Sharad Pawar is not a contender for the Prime Minister’s post.
After the party’s national executive council meeting in Delhi, senior NCP leader Praful Patel said Pawar is going to play an important role to bring many forces together.
“Sharad Pawar was never and will never be the PM face. He only speaks about the real issues of this country. Some workers of the party expressed their views but Pawar is not aspiring for the PM post. We know our limitations and he is not the Opposition’s face but will play an important role,” Patel, who served as Union Minister in the UPA Government told the media.
Patel said the NCP was going to play a key role in the upcoming general elections and virtually rejected Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s bid to forge a non-Congress Third Front. “We were also a part of the UPA Government. We don’t have any such issue with the Congress,”he said.
Pawar was re-elected as the NCP president on Saturday unopposed during the party’s national executive meeting.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was in Delhi recently met Pawar and discuss ways to unite the Opposition.