Raising many eyebrows, National Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter’s residence for a nearly one hour on Saturday ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament and amidst talk of him being a Presidential candidate.
This was also the first one-on-one meeting of Pawar, 80, with Modi, 70, since 2019.
Modi and Pawar share interesting relationships with both praising and criticising each other from time to time. It is the Modi Government which awarded Padma Vibhushan to Pawar in 2017 and the same Government set Enforcement Directorate probe against him in 2019 during
Maharashtra Assembly elections. The said probe has now taken a backseat.
The meeting at the request of the NCP strongman comes two days ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament and reports of a strain in the “Maha Vikas Aghadi” Government led by the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, of which the NCP is a key constituent.
Previously, Pawar was huddled-up with political strategist Prashant Kishor with reports that he could be a nominee for the Presidential election slated next year.
Pawar had denied report that he is a candidate for the “Rashtrapati Bhawan”.
On Friday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Pawar and another former Defence Minister AK Antony to brief on the situation on the Line of Actual Control. On the same day, Pawar was also part of a meeting held by newly-appointed leader of Rajya Sabha and Union Minister Piyush Goyal before the commencement of the Monsoon Session in July 19.
Following the meeting, Pawar, in a tweet, said, “Met the Prime Minister of our country Narendra Modi. Had a discussion on various issues of national interest.”
The NCP has denied “speculations” linked to Pawar’s meeting with Modi.
Apart from meeting Modi, Pawar also wrote him a letter on Saturday flagging concerns on the Ministry of Cooperation. He said cooperative banking sector is a state subject. Citing Supreme Court judgments, he said that any attempt of interference by the centre will be a breach of the Constitution.
“This meeting was due for many days and a time was found today. A leader from Maharashtra meeting the Prime Minister has nothing to do with anything else... We expect that the PM will consider all requests of the banking sector,” NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said.
Pawar who was looked-up by many to bring opposition together and lead anti-Modi front ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, has now said that no decision has been taken about the 2024 elections. “The political situation keeps changing,” he said.
