Sharad Pawar is welcome in NDA: Union Minister Athawale

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said that Sharad Pawar and his NCP would be welcome in the NDA, if he joins the BJP-led ruling alliance.

Addressing a press conference in Nanded on Thursday, Athawale said, “There is no problem with Sharad Pawar joining the NDA even now. If he decides today, eight of his MPs can join the NDA. Time has not passed yet. Pawar could still take a decision. We will welcome him to the NDA and benefit from his experience,” Ramdas Athawale said.

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Athawale’s statement came a day after Supriya Sule, National Working President of Sharad Pawar-led NCP, vehemently denied that her party planned to join the NDA, insisting it would remain with the Congress-led INDIA Opposition alliance.

“Sharad Pawar is a senior leader. If he had joined the NDA in 2014 or 2019, he could have been President of India. If he had joined the NDA and proposed that he wanted to become the President, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have accepted it,” he said.

Recounting the days when he was part of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, Athawale said, “I was with him (Sharad Pawar) then. If he had improved his relations with Sonia Gandhi, probably Manmohan Singh might have become Prime Minister for a second time. At that time, Sharad Pawar could have been a contender for the Prime Minister’s post,” he added.

After urging Sharad Pawar to join the NDA, Athawale alleged that Congress has always opposed allowing women to get reservations. “However, during the forthcoming session, the Women’s Reservation and Delimitation Bill will be reintroduced in Parliament, and these bills will definitely pass, since the NDA has more strength now than it had before,” Athawale said.

Dwelling on the issue of sub-categorisation of Scheduled Caste (SC) reservations based on population, he said that discussing such issues requires the leader of the Opposition to be present in Delhi, adding that the whereabouts of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi have been unknown for the last 20 days.