File Picture Courtesy : National Herald
The Shiv Sena has once again created a buzz in the political circles. In it’s sunday edition of it’s mouth piece Saamna it has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered cabinet berth to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and Maratha stalwart Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, but she refused the offer.
According to various media reports, the latest revelation by Shiv Sena indicates that all is not well in it’s alliance with the BJP and is bound to further strain their ties . The party had recently lashed out at the cabinet reshuffle and party leader Sanjay Raut said that NDA exists only on paper after allies were not given berths in the Modi cabinet.
In his editorial, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut wrote that Pawar had denied getting closer to the BJP-led NDA dispensation at the Centre as well as the state.
The editorial noted that the four-time Maharashtra chief minister decried all media speculations around NCP joining the Union Cabinet, adding that his daughter had told Modi that she would be the last person to join the BJP.
“The PM told me that he wanted Supriya in the Union Cabinet,” Raut quoted Pawar as saying. However, Supriya told the PM that she would be the last person to go with the BJP, Raut said quoting Pawar.
The editorial quoted Pawar as saying that the NCP is clear about its role as an Opposition party, while rumours of his party joining NDA are only circulating to create confusion. Reportedly, a close aide of the NCP chief told the media that Pawar was in Baramati, his hometown, and would respond to the Saamana article at an “appropriate” time.
As per The Times of India, Raut, however, maintained that whatever Pawar might say, the NCP leaders are in contact with the BJP.
As per the Shiv Sena leader, Pawar told him: “Our stand is clear. However, such reports are carried only to sow confusion.”
However, Raut wrote that if the NCP joins the Fadnavis regime in Maharashtra, that would be “the last straw on the camel’s back” for Pawar’s party. Also, the BJP will stand exposed, further said Raut.
“By inducting all and sundry into the party fold, the BJP is fast emerging as the modern-day avatar of the Congress party,” Raut wrote.
