PM Modi wishes Sharad Pawar on his 80th birthday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday wished Nationalist Congress Party chief (NCP) Sharad Pawar on his 80th birthday.

"Best wishes to Sharad Pawar Ji on his birthday. May Almighty bless with good health and a long life," PM Modi wrote on Twitter.

Pawar, who was born on December 12, 1940, in Maharashtra's Baramati, has a political career spanning over 50 years. In 1967, he was elected a member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from Baramati constituency on a Congress ticket and has been in public service since then.

However, in 1999, he broke ties with Congress to form the Nationalist Congress Party. He had also served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and held several key ministerial portfolios at the Centre.

At present, the NCP chief is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Pawar has also been credited for stitching the alliance between three parties -- Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP after 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections to form the government in the state.

(ANI)