After a gap of nearly 15 years, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar shared the dais on Saturday as they jointly campaigned for the UPA candidates here.The uncertainties of the 2014 lok Sabha elections apparently brought Pawar — who had broken away from the Congress in 1998 protesting Gandhi’s Italian origins — closer to her.
A year later, Pawar had floated the NCP in 1999 which however later became part of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre and even in Maharashtra where the alliance is in power since 14 years. Gandhi’s first rally in Maharashtra for the 2014 polls saw Pawar joining her to jointly campaign for the NCP candidate and Union Minister Praful Patel which is affected by Maoist insurgency. In his address, Pawar targeted called Modi a man in great hurry to occupy the top post.