‘Oppn parties should be cautious of Pawar’

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Monday said that Opposition parties who are attempting to string together a ‘Third Front’ need to be “cautious” of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar.

The Sena’s jibe comes after Pawar, in an interview to a news channel, said that such a front will “not materialise” before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, though many of his colleagues favour such a coalition. He termed the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) unpractical.

“The Opposition parties meet regularly in Delhi and [all leaders] raise their hands and pose for pictures to show their unity; Sharad Pawar is also one of them. While posing with other leaders, he is now saying that a Third Front is not possible. The experiment is not practical and will not be successful,” an editorial in Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said. It added, “If Pawar continues to make such statements, the opposition parties need to be cautious.” Parties such as the TMC, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Telugu Desam Party, Rashtriya Janta Dal, Biju Janta Dal, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, NCP and other smaller parties are attempting to cobble up an anti-BJP group.

Last month, Pawar had invited the Sena to join Mahagathbandhan. However, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, on the 52nd Foundation Day of his party last month, rejected the offer.