Grand alliance must not project any PM face before 2019 polls, says Pawar

Ahead of the Lok Sabha poll, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has suggested no leader should be projected as the prime ministerial candidate before 2019 Lok Sabha (LS) poll and claimed Congress president (Rahul Gandhi) has agreed to his suggestion. Addressing a core committee meeting of the party on Monday at the Y B Chavan Pratishthan, Pawar, while advocating a grand alliance, suggested parties should go with a strong party at the regional level.

Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a strong competitor, Pawar said first the BJP has to be dethroned and only then could it be decided who the prime ministerial candidate could be.

“The BJP is asking us who will be the PM candidate from the opposition against Modi. They should not bother an about option to Modi. People will answer this question in the election,” Pawar said.

Citing the examples of the 1977 and 2004 elections, Pawar said, after the Emergency, in 1977, parties had no one to project as their prime ministerial face against Indira Gandhi. But small parties banded together and Morarji Desai became the Prime Minister.

“Again in 2004, the BJP had asked the same question — who could stand up to the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then PM? They ran their ‘India Shining’ campaign but the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came into power and stayed there for the next decade. Modi's propaganda is another ‘India Shining,’ he added.

Speaking about the next candidate for Prime Minister, Pawar said, “I met Congress president (Rahul Gandhi) thrice in recent days. He agrees with me that the PM candidate should not be projected before the election.

“The side with the most elected Members of Parliament (MPs) is likely to project one of its own as the PM. After the election, we will sit together and finalise the PM candidate. We are trying to take on board all political parties that are not with the BJP. I have been telling people that in states like Tamil Nadu, we should consider the DMK as the state's largest party and other secular parties should support them. The same equation will be applicable to other states,” said Pawar.

On the recent arrests by the Anti-Terrorism Squad, Pawar said, “The killing of Gauri Lankesh and MM Kalburgi is nothing but an attack on the secularism. Those who have been arrested in connection with murders of rationalists are spreading communalism. They are not against only one community, they are against all communities which promote secularism. This is an attack on secularism. It is the responsibility of every citizen to demand strict action against such organisations.”

First the BJP has to be dethroned and only then could it be decided who the prime ministerial candidate could be — SHARAD PAWAR, NCP chief