Pawar back on the field, to meet Nitish on opposition unity

Mumbai: Two days after he withdrew his resignation as NCP national president, Sharad Pawar was back in action with a two-day tour of Solapur and Satara. The veteran leader will meet Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar on May 11 in Mumbai, and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders later in order to begin preparing for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“We all want the Opposition to be united,” Pawar told reporters in Solapur on Sunday. “Nitish Kumar has visited many states for this and on May 11, he is coming to Mumbai to meet me. We are all trying to work together in order to bring about changes in the country. I will fully support all such attempts. I have held some meetings in the past and will conduct a few more in the coming days.” The former Union minister remarked that the people wanted change, and he would not be surprised if there was a change in both the Maharashtra and central governments.

In recent weeks, there has been much speculation that the NCP was facing internal strife, as Pawar’s nephew and Opposition leader Ajit Pawar was allegedly planning to forge an alliance with the BJP along with a group of party MLAs. This had brought a cloud of uncertainty over Opposition unity in the state as well as at the national level. However, Pawar recently dismissed the rumours and emphasised that all was fine with the three-party MVA coalition as well. “It is vital that the MVA parties begin discussions (for seat-sharing), complete all these processes and start poll preparations accordingly,” he pointed out.

In Solapur, the NCP supremo inaugurated a biogas plant of a sugar mill and addressed a farmers’ rally among other events. Slamming the BJP-led central government over its alleged apathy towards farmers’ issues, he told the agrarian community that it needed to remove those who were working against its interest. On Monday, Pawar will be in Satara—it was in Satara in 2019 that he addressed people from a dais amid pouring rain, which later became a turning point in the Opposition’s assembly election campaign.

On Sunday, Pawar hinted that his daughter, Baramati MP Supriya Sule, could take over the NCP after the 2024 general elections. “The general elections are likely to be held in one year. Supriya has said that she is not interested in taking any organisational responsibilities until the elections are over,” he said in response to a question about the possibility of Sule taking over as NCP working president. Pawar withdrew his resignation following pressure from party leaders and workers, but said they would work on a succession plan.