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Updated June 12th, 2021 at 13:26 IST

NCP details Sharad Pawar-Prashant Kishor's 3 hour meet; says 'PK not appointed as advisor'

Explaining the sudden Prashant Kishor-Sharad Pawar meeting, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik on Saturday, said that the meeting lasted for three hours on Friday

NCP, prashant kishor
IMAGE: PTI | Image:self
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Explaining the sudden Prashant Kishor-Sharad Pawar meeting, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik on Saturday, said that the meeting lasted for three hours. Refuting claims that Pawar has appointed Kishor as an NCP strategist, Malik said that Pawar wants to unite all Opposition parties and efforts will be made for this objective. Kishor - who has advised Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Priyanka Gandhi, Capt. Amarinder Singh, MK Stalin. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi himself - recently quit as a poll strategist after trumping BJP in Bengal.

NCP: "Kishor not appointed as a strategist"   

Pawar's recent curious meetings

Recently, the NCP Supremo has had a string of curious meetings starting with Prashant Kishor on Friday. Previously he held a meeting with ex-Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, which the LoP insisted was a 'courtesy meeting' as the veteran NCP chief underwent three operations recently. Pawar has also held a meeting with BJP-turned-NCP leader Eknath Khadse who had a bitter fallout with Fadnavis. In March, amid the heat of the Vazegate, Pawar along with Praful Patel, met Home Minister Amit Shah who did not refute it saying, 'Not everything can be made public'.

Pawar's bid to be UPA chief ?

As Opposition leaders call for a united front against BJP, several calls for Sharad Pawar to take over as UPA chairperson from Sonia Gandhi have been made. Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has repeatedly said 'Congress needs to strengthen' amid a string of high-profile exits backing Pawar to take over from Sonia Gandhi. "Apart from Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar has support from a cross-section of people," said Raut.

In response, ex-Maharashtra CM & Congress veteran Ashok Chavan said that 'Shiv Sena is not part of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and a tie-up between two parties is limited to Maharashtra only'. Amid reports that NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will replace Sonia Gandhi as UPA (United Progressive Alliance) chairperson soon, after Rahul Gandhi refused the post, NCP refuted it. Incidentally, Pawar along with Tariq Anwar and PA Sangma was expelled from the Congress in 1999 after he took issue with Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin.

Sena & Congress-NCP

Sena has often clashed with its ideological polar opposite Congress since the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance over issues like Hindutva, CAA, NRC, Ram Janmabhoomi, Savarkar, COVID-19 etc, with NCP playing the peacemaker. Several ministers from NCP and Congress have accused Uddhav Thackeray of depending more on bureaucrats than his alliance partners, alleging that they were being 'sidelined'. Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat, minister Ashok Chavan have openly stated that the party has had no say in any of the decisions being taken by the Thackeray government. All three allies have maintained that the alliance is safe, but BJP has often asserted that the MVA govt will fall on its own.

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Published June 12th, 2021 at 13:26 IST

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