GG News Bureau
Bengaluru, 17th July. Sharad Pawar will attend the second day of the opposition meet, which begins today in Bengaluru, his party and associates said, dismissing rumours that he will skip the meeting.
The 82-year-old leader will travel to Bengaluru with his daughter Supriya Sule tomorrow, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) said, putting an end to reports that had sparked intense speculation a day after his surprise meeting with nephew Ajit Pawar, who recently split from the NCP and joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra.
Sharad Pawar, who attended the previous opposition meeting on June 23 in Bihar’s Patna, has been a key figure in trying to unify disparate parties against the ruling BJP ahead of the 2024 national election.
Apart from NCP leaders, Sharad Pawar’s allies also tweeted that he was very much a part of the Bengaluru conclave.
“After the Patna meeting, the Bengaluru meeting that will emerge today will be decisive. Shiv Sena Party Chief Uddhav Thackeray will attend the meeting. There was confusion about whether Sharad Pawar would attend the meeting or not. Mr Pawar will attend the meeting in Bengaluru tomorrow morning. I am saying this with certainty. Hum Sab Ek Hai (We are united)!” posted Sanjay Raut, a leader of Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena.
On Sunday, Ajit Pawar, who became Deputy Chief Minister following the coup, called his uncle Sharad Pawar along with other NCP stalwarts who switched sides and are now serving in the Maharashtra government.
Another close Sharad Pawar aide who revolted against him, Praful Patel, stated that they wanted to seek Sharad Pawar’s blessings before the Maharashtra assembly session began today.
Praful Patel, who accompanied Sharad Pawar to the previous opposition meeting in Patna, said he urged the veteran to join forces with the insurgents and unite the two NCP factions.
“Sharad Pawar didn’t reply to us, he just kept listening to what we were saying,” Patel told reporters.
Ajit Pawar, who claims to have the support of more NCP MLAs than Sharad Pawar, also paid a visit to his uncle’s residence last week to meet with his aunt Pratibha Pawar, Sharad Pawar’s wife, who recently underwent surgery.
Top leaders from 24 opposition parties are likely to attend a meeting in Bengaluru organized by the Congress to establish a cohesive strategy to take on the BJP in the monsoon session of parliament and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chose to attend the meeting after the Congress expressed support for the party’s fight against a central order on control of Delhi’s bureaucracy. The AAP had threatened to boycott the meet if Congress did not publicly support its cause.
Leaders attending the Bengaluru conclave include Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, MK Stalin, Nitish Kumar, and Hemant Soren.
K Chandrasekhar Rao, Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chandrababu Naidu, and Naveen Patnaik are expected to stay away.
Comments are closed.