‘Sharad Pawar not in PM race’: NCP MP Praful Patel

Amid opposition parties promoting their leaders for the prime ministerial post for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Nationalist Congress Party on September 11 cleared the air that its chief Sharad Pawar is not in the race.

NCP MP Praful Patel said that Pawar "neither was, nor is" the PM candidate. He added that the NCP Cheif can play a major role in bringing together various people and ideologies.

Speaking to the media after the conclusion of the eighth national convention of the party in Delhi, Patel said, "Sharad Pawar neither was, nor is the prime ministerial candidate. Neither has he made any such statement. We are aware of the reality. We know about our limitations. Our party might be smaller in comparison to the other parties, but our leadership is big. Sharad Pawar is not the face of the Opposition. He is not in the race."

This remark came a day after Pawar was re-elected as the president of the Nationalist Congress Party.

"A question is always asked who will be up against the present ruling government in the country? Sharad Pawar is a strong leader who can bring various people and ideologies together and through which we can play a strong political role. We will play the responsibility of the Opposition. We do not want to say that we will be the alternative, but through Sharad Pawar, an atmosphere can be built that can build trust among people," Patel added.

While saying that Pawar will play a key role in future, Patel asserted that NCP does not have any issue with the Congress party.

"We don't have any issue with Congress, have worked with UPA in the past," he added.

The declaration by the NCP comes amid the attempts by the Opposition leaders like Telagana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and others to bring together the like-minded parties against the BJP. Recently, KCR had visited Bihar and shared the stage with Kumar, where he said that the decision on the PM candidate will be taken after discussions.

The Opposition had made attempts to bring together all the leaders on a single page in 2019 general elections, however, the BJP beat them to emerge victorious with even more number of seats than in 2014. The BJP had won 282 seats in 2014 polls while it returned to power with 303 seats.