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Sharad Pawar, too, gets a PM dream
Published on Wed, Dec 13, 2006 at 10:33, Updated on Wed, Dec 13, 2006 at 10:40 in section
Tags: Sharad Pawar, Ncp , New Delhi
New Delhi: Apart from LK Advani, look who has got a prime minister dream!
After former BJP President and senior party leader Advani revealed his dream for prime ministership, the buzz is around NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar now.
Apparently senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi first floated the idea, saying that "as a person from Maharashtra, we would back Pawar if he aspires to become the prime minister." Sena chief Bal Thackeray has also gone on record, saying he would support Pawar if he aspires to become the prime minister.
But Pawar's take on the issue is more rational, it seems. "The idea is irrational," he says. "I have a small party that has just 14 members in Parliament. Thinking on these lines would be irrational," he said on Tuesday. Pawar, who turned 66 on Tuesday, however said he was pleased to hear about the offer.
Meanwhile, in an interview to BBC Radio, Pawar has regretted his decision to part ways with the Congress, triggering speculation about his possible return to the party fold. Showering praise on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Pawar said people like him "had to pay the price for raising certain issues about her."
"The manner in which she suffered shocks and stayed back in India and even strengthened the Congress when everyone else was saying she and her children should leave the country has to be accepted," Pawar said in the interview.
“Members of the Nehru-Gandhi family have a tradition of treating anybody they come in contact with, with respect and she has continued that tradition,” the Maharashtra strongman said when asked how Gandhi treats him when they meet in private.
He, however, accepted that he had strong suspicion about Sonia Gandhi's actions when he split the party. "In a large country like India, there are always issues about culture and history. Some of us had doubts about what path she would take if the responsibility of running the country came upon her. We expressed these doubts and paid the price for it by leaving the Congress," he said.
Interestingly, the Congress chief and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among the first to call and wish Pawar on his birthday on Tuesday.
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