Me And Manmohan Singh Didn’t Want Vendetta Politics Against Modi: Sharad Pawar

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Pune, 30th December 2021: NCP president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said he and the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were of the opinion that no vendetta politics should be played against Narendra Modi while he was Gujarat chief minister. Pawar was the Agriculture Minister in the Congress-led UPA government (2004–2014).

During an event organized by Marathi daily Loksatta, Pawar said apart from him there was no other minister in the previous UPA government who could hold talks with Modi as he used to repeatedly attack the Manmohan Singh government.

 

Pawar was the Agriculture Minister in the Congress-led UPA government (2004–2014). Asked whether he and Singh were of the opinion that no action should be taken against Modi as he was the chief minister at a time when central agencies and the then government were after Modi, Pawar said it was partly true.

 

He said that when Modi was the CM of Gujarat, I was at the centre. When the PM used to call a meeting of all Chief Ministers, Modi used to lead a group of CMs of BJP ruled states and attack the Centre. In such a situation, a strategy was made on how to respond to Modi. There was not a single minister in the UPA government other than me who could talk to Modi.

 

The 81-year-old MP said that he used to tell everyone present in the internal meetings of the UPA that even if there were differences between him and Modi and his party BJP, one should not forget that he is the chief minister. I used to say in meetings that people have given him the mandate. If they are coming here with issues, then it is our national duty to ensure that differences are resolved and the interest of the people of their state is not affected.

 

Pawar said the then PM Manmohan Singh supported his opinion. He said that I was the only Union Minister who used to go to Gujarat and look after the issues of the state. However, some members of the UPA coalition took a tough stand against some people in the Gujarat government.

 

Pawar said he was not prepared to come back from the Center as Chief Minister of Maharashtra during the post-Babri riots in Mumbai, but he was prepared emotionally. Pawar, then a Congress leader, was Defence Minister in PM PV Narasimha Rao’s cabinet and took over as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in March 1993, replacing Sudhakarrao Naik.