Sharad Pawar claims he refused Prime Minister Modi's offer to "work together"

Sharad Pawar, the NCP supremo on Monday claimed that PM Modi had given him an offer to "work together," however, he refused the proposal. In the claim made on a regional channel, Pawar also asserted that the offer was made because the two of them--Pawar and PM Modi, share "similar opinions" on certain issues. The statement of the NCP chief comes against the backdrop of Shiv Sena dumping its saffron ally BJP over disagreements on rotational chief ministership and forming a government in an unconventional alliance with NCP and Congress in Maharashtra.

Speaking to a regional channel, Sharad Pawar said,  "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had insisted on working together with me, as on some issues we have similar opinions. But I refused his offer." He further added that PM Modi told Pawar that his experience in political will be of assistance to the government. "PM Modi told me that my political experience would be helpful for him to run the government. We both share similar opinions on some national issues, hence he made the offer," Pawar said.

READ| Impossible: NCP lists dire repercussions of Hegde's big 'Rs 40,000 crore' claim

The NCP chief further said he had assured the prime minister that his party would not oppose each and every policy of the Centre for the sake of opposition. "Despite sitting in opposite rows in Parliament, I will not oppose you for the sake of opposition. My cooperation will be there whenever needed," Pawar claimed to have told PM Modi. Pawar dismissed reports that the Modi government offered to make him India's President. "But there surely was an offer to make Supriya (Sule) a minister in the Modi-led cabinet," he added.

Pawar meets PM Modi

On November 20, amid the President's rule and political chaos in Maharashtra, Pawar held a meeting with PM Modi in the Parliament to discuss the plight of farmers in the state. Pawar issued a letter to the Prime Minister, accentuating on the issues faced by the farmers in Nagpur and Nashik districts. After the meeting with PM Modi, the NCP chief Sharad Pawar in a series of tweet said, "Met Narendra Modi in Parliament today to discuss the issues of farmers in Maharashtra. This year the seasonal rainfall has created Havoc engulfing 325 talukas of Maharashtra causing heavy damage of crops over 54.22 lakh hectares of area."

In his letter to PM Modi, Pawar wrote, "Due to the prevalence of Presidential Rule in the state, your urgent intervention is highly necessitated. I shall be grateful if you take immediate steps to initiate massive relief measures and ameliorate the miseries of distressed farmers."

PM Modi has always praised Pawar and made it a point not to launch a vicious attack against him during the state election campaign. PM Modi's latest praise for Pawar came last month when he was speaking on the occasion of the 250th session of the Rajya Sabha. PM Modi said other parties, including the BJP, should learn from the NCP on how to adhere to parliamentary norms. In 2016, when PM Modi visited the Vasantdada Sugar Institute in Pune on an invitation from Pawar, he had praised the NCP chief as an example to others in public life. "I have personal respect for Pawar. I was the Gujarat chief minister at that time. He helped me walk by holding my finger. I feel proud to pronounce this publicly," PM Modi had said.

Days after Pawar met Modi, the NCP chief's nephew Ajit Pawar broke ranks with the party and joined hands with the BJP in Maharashtra claiming that he had the support of MLAs. In a hush-hush development, Devendra Fadnavis took oath as chief minister on November 23 morning and Ajit Pawar as deputy CM. However, the BJP-Ajit Pawar government collapsed on November 26 with Ajit Pawar resigning as the deputy CM citing "personal reasons." Eventually, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra. 

(With PTI inputs) 

READ| Maharashtra BJP chief calls Shiv Sena 'trustworthy' even as CM Thackeray taunts Fadnavis