News Analysis India

Tag: Sharad Pawar

  • ‘National ambitions suddenly awakened’: Sushil Modi takes a dig at KCR’s third front efforts

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday said that the chief ministers of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Telangana have influence limited in their respective states and they are now trying to form a front as their national ambitions suddenly awakened.

    Taking to Twitter, Sushil Modi, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, lashed out at the opposition leaders saying that the people have seen the fate of many weak regimes — the governments of VP Singh, Chandrasekhar, HD Deve Gowda and IG Gujaral. “All those governments were rejected outrightly by the people of country,” said Modi, adding that such weak governments would suffer from negativity and prove to be a hindrance in stability and development.

    ममता बनर्जी, चंद्रशेखर राव, उद्धव ठाकरे जैसे मुख्यमंत्रियों का प्रभाव केवल संबंधित राज्यों तक है, लेकिन ऐसे जिन लोगों की राष्ट्रीय महत्वाकांक्षा अचानक जगती है, वे कोई फ्रंट बनाने निकल पड़ते हैं।
    — Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) February 22, 2022
    Modi, who is considered as one of the prominent members of the BJP think-tank at the Centre, further said the country has been emerging as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a massive rise in foreign exchange reserves.

    “But remember, there was a day during the regime of Chandrasekhar when the country was forced to mortgage gold in London. And now, some opposition leaders are speaking of a front against the Modi government because of their political ambitions.”

    ALSO READ | KCR-Uddhav-Pawar meet: Such unity experiments have failed in the past, says Devendra Fadnavis

    Predicting an utter failure of an attempt to form an anti-BJP front, Modi said that Mamata Banerjee will never succeed even if she joins hands with Tejashwi Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, KCR and Uddhav Thackeray to challenge the popular leadership of PM Modi and the BJP which has a strong central government and dedicated cadres.

    The irony is all these regional parties want to exclude the Congress from the front despite the fact that most of them (parties) are breakaways from the Congress and are dynastic outfits.

    “Some leaders who don’t have any pan-India support can raise someone’s name for the big post,”, Modi said.

  • ‘Hamara Bajaj’! Rahul Bajaj a lighthouse for young entrepreneurs: NCP chief Sharad Pawar

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday remembered former chairman of the Bajaj Group, Rahul Bajaj, as a philanthropist who was like a “lighthouse” for young entrepreneurs.

    “I am deeply shocked to learn about the sad demise of Padma Bhushan Shri Rahul Bajaj! The grandson of eminent freedom fighter Jamnalal Bajaj brought transformation in society especially in poor and middle-class people with his two-wheel technology – a Bajaj Bike!,” Pawar tweeted.

    Pawar said he was grieved with the passing of his very close friend.

    “India has lost an industrialist, a philanthropist and a lighthouse for young entrepreneurs! Hamara Bajaj,” Pawar said.

    The affordable vehicle increased mobility, eased the struggle for getting means of livelihood and became the tool of socio-economic change, he added.

    “We Indians are deeply indebted for his immense contribution to the industry,” he said.

    Rahul Bajaj died at a hospital in Pune on Saturday afternoon.

    He was 83.

    Pawar also said Bajaj Group came to Wardha where the (Mahatma) Gandhi’s family lived with the Bajajs.

    They had business in that area where the big business was buying and selling cotton.

    “But the later generations decided to go a different way. In a real sense, Rahul Bajaj has done a great job in the industrial sector, especially in the automobile sector,” he said in a statement.

    “Rahul Bajaj’s business started from Pune. Some members of his previous generation were leading the industry in Mumbai. When Rahul Bajaj took over the responsibility after completing his higher education, he made the first decision not to run a factory from Mumbai,” Pawar recalled.

    The NCP chief said Rahul Bajaj was the only personality who spent his entire life and had a residence in Akurdi (in Pune) on the premises where his workers work.

    He spent his life standing with the factory and its workers, the former Maharashtra chief minister said.

    He stated that the role of the state government was to step up industrialisation in the Aurangabad district.

    “Bajaj gave a big response to the state government in future without limiting the expansion of the factory to Akurdi,” Pawar added.

    The NCP chief further said that in the best interest of the country and society, Bajaj used to express his views clearly, even if the government disagreed with them.

    “Bajaj also showed his mettle by taking the responsibility given to him in some institutions of the Maharashtra government. He was outspoken. We decided at that time to use his views more at the national level and unanimously decided to appoint him in the Rajya Sabha. Though his term was limited, his work in the Rajya Sabha would be remembered,” Pawar recalled.

    He said Bajaj’s contribution to the Upper House on the economic and national issues was excellent and that his speech never had political connotations.

    “As a friend in the industrial sector in Pune, my friendship with Bajaj remained intact. He supported me in many things. He never failed to express his opposition to the dissenting opinion. Many, including me, gladly accepted his criticism,” Pawar added.

  • UP polls: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Amit Shah to campaign in state

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar will lead the party’s campaign in Uttar Pradesh where the party is contesting the assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.

    Besides Pawar, senior leaders and parliament members Praful Patel, Supriya Sule, Sunil Tatkare and Fauzia Khan have been named as star campaigners for the assembly elections.

    NCP has fielded party general secretary K K Sharma from Anupshahr assembly constituency in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh.

    Maharashtra minister and NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik, former Rajya Sabha member Abdul Majeed Memon, Delhi NCP chief Yoganand Shastri are among others who have been named as star campaigners for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

    Elections for the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly will be held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7.

    The results will be announced on March 10.

    SP is expected to field candidates on about 350 of the 403 seats, while the rest would be split among alliance partners.

    Jayant Singh Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal, Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party are other alliance partners of the Samajwadi Party.

    Opposition leaders are expected to hit the campaign trail in Lucknow in support of Samajwadi Party next month.

    Pawar had said that the BJP had not fulfilled the promises it had made to the people and that Uttar Pradesh will witness a change in government after elections.

    In his first political programme in Uttar Pradesh after the assembly poll dates were announced, Home Minister Amit Shah will be on a door-to-door campaign in support of the BJP candidate in the western UP constituency of Kairana on Saturday.

    The senior BJP leader, who is playing a key role in the party’s campaign in the politically crucial state, will also hold a meeting with party workers in Shamli and Baghpat, sources said, adding that he will later have an interaction with eminent citizens in Meerut.

    Shah’s choice of Kairana is significant as BJP leaders had alleged in the run-up to the 2017 assembly polls that a large number of Hindus were forced to migrate from the area due to threats.

    Uttar Pradesh will have seven-phase polls starting from February 10.

    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday released the BJP’s song for the assembly polls and said rioters, who once enjoyed the patronage of previous governments and were a threat to the state’s peace, now have their posters pasted in public places.

    Adityanath released the song titled ‘UP Phir Mangein BJP Sarkar’ at the party’s state headquarters here in the presence of its Uttar Pradesh chief Swatantra Dev Singh, Deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma, and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur.

    Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said, “The rioters who were once a threat to the peace and harmony of the state and enjoyed patronage of previous governments, today have their posters pasted on roads and crossings.”

    “Taking the basic mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the aim of our government, we have worked for the development of all but appeasement of none,” Adityanath said and referred to the achievements of his government.

    Under the SP and the BSP governments sugar mills used to remain closed and arrears of sugarcane farmers were pending for years, Adityanath said, adding that his government made record payments to sugarcane farmers.

    “Our government also paid cane dues pending from the SP and BSP governments’ time,” he said.

    Adityanath said that his government has fulfilled the promises made by the BJP in its 2017 election manifesto.

  • War of words between Fadnavis, NCP leaders as Pawar plans Goa foray

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: As the NCP seeks to make fresh inroads in Goa, a verbal duel has broken out between the Sharad Pawar-led party and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

    Fadnavis, who is in charge of the BJP’s affairs in Goa, had mocked Pawar’s attempts to cobble up an alliance with the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the coastal state, which will go to polls on February 14.

    “A party does not acquire a national footprint by merely including ‘nationalist’ in its name. Though it is called the Nationalist Congress Party, in reality, the party is limited to western Maharashtra,” he had told reporters.

    NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Supriya Sule and Nawab Malik hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and asked him to exercise restraint while speaking about Sharad Pawar.

    NCP chief spokesperson Malik reminded Fadnavis how the veteran leader had prevented him from returning as the chief minister after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls.

    “If he continues to speak in the same vein, Sharad Pawar will not hesitate to show him the ghats of Kashi,” he wrote on Twitter, in an apparent hint at ending the political career of the BJP leader.

    In the run-up to the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls, Fadnavis had famously declared that the era of Sharad Pawar’s brand of politics was over.

    “The era of Sharad Pawarji’s politics is over. The kind of politics he would play of making and breaking (parties) is over now. Such politics will not work. Generations have changed, people do not accept such politics now,” he had said.

    As the Shiv Sena walked out of its coalition with the BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra polls, Fadnavis had assumed office as chief minister with NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy.

    However, the arrangement barely lasted for three days as Sharad Pawar ensured that none of the NCP MLAs supported the government.

    Fadnavis had to resign as chief minister within 80 hours and Ajit Pawar too returned to the NCP fold.

    Sharad Pawar then cobbled up an unlikely alliance of the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress to deny the BJP, the single-largest party in the Assembly, a shot at power.

    Fadnavis has lost no opportunity to take a swipe at Sharad Pawar, who has hit back in equal measure.

    Last month, Fadnavis had scoffed at the NCP’s attempt to portray its chief as a prime ministerial candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

    “The NCP has been dreaming about this since its inception, but it will not cross 10 seats,” Fadnavis had said.

  • Sonia Gandhi meets Opposition leaders on joint strategy in Parliament, no invite to Mamata’s TMC

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday met a group of opposition leaders and held consultations with them to evolve a joint strategy in Parliament, sources said.

    NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, J&K National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and DMK leader T R Baalu were among the leaders who met Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence.

    Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, which is at loggerheads with the Congress, was not invited, sources said.

    Sources said more such meetings would be held in the next few days, in a bid to bring all opposition forces together.

    Opposition parties have been protesting the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs and are holding protests, seeking the revocation of their suspensions.

    Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge were also part of Tuesday’s meeting.

    According to sources, Sonia Gandhi had invited Uddhav Thackeray and DMK chief MK Stalin. Both deputed their leaders –Raut and Baalu– respectively.

    Earlier in the day, opposition MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha held a protest march from the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk with Rahul Gandhi alleging that the Opposition is not being allowed to raise issues in Parliament, which is now merely a building and a museum.

    “Wherever the Opposition is trying to raise issues, they are suppressed. The government does not allow us to raise issues. This is the murder of democracy. We want to raise issues against the government, but we are not allowed to do so,” he told reporters.

  • Celebrating his 81st birthday, NCP leaders want to Sharad Pawar as prime minister one day

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar celebrated his 81 birthday on Sunday in Mumbai where his party leaders decided to work hard to make Sharad Pawar the Prime Minister of India.

    NCP’s Lok Sabha MP Amol Kohle said that if the 26 Member of Parliament (MP) electing Gujarat can make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India, then why not the 48 MP electing Maharashtra to make Sharad Pawar as the PM?  He said that NCP chief Sharad Pawar has all qualities that require for the prime minister post.

    “Despite the capacity of electing the largest numbers of MP in Maharashtra after Uttar Pradesh, no one became the Prime Minister from Maharashtra. We as Maharashtrians need to introspect over it,” NCP MP asked.

    “Sharad Pawar is the simple man and grounded man, connected to people at the age of 81 also. Pawar saheb neither needs the Rs 5 Lakh worth suit to wear nor Rs 1000 worth mushroom to eat.  We need to work hard to make Sharad Pawar the Prime Minister of India,” said Kohle.

    He added that Sharad Pawar is the ideological heir of Shahu Maharaj, the first king in India to offer reservations in pre-independent India to the oppressed class. “Like Shahu Maharaj, Sharad Pawar was the first person in India to bring the women reservations in local body elections. He also allowed entry of the women in defence services. He is a pioneer in many fields that were taboo for women.”

    “Sharad Pawar tirelessly worked for the oppressed class and women. His 40 years central politics is always around with the development of agriculture, defence and empowerment of downtrodden people,” Kohle said adding that any big leader from India has always sought help from Sharad Pawar.

    “Sharad Pawar’s political and administrative experience is vast. During the earthquake, erstwhile prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpai praised his work.

    NCP chief Jayant Patil said that there is an ideological crisis in India. “There is an ideological fight in India and this can be won ideologically only. The students and youth should join the NCP and take the progressive thought of the NCP to every nook and corner of the country. The last man in the community should join our fight against the BJP,” Patil said.

  • Celebrating his 81st birthday, NCP leaders want Sharad Pawar as prime minister one day

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar celebrated his 81 birthday on Sunday in Mumbai where his party leaders decided to work hard to make Sharad Pawar the Prime Minister of India.

    NCP’s Lok Sabha MP Amol Kohle said that if the 26 Member of Parliament (MP) electing Gujarat can make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister of India, then why not the 48 MP electing Maharashtra to make Sharad Pawar as the PM?  He said that NCP chief Sharad Pawar has all qualities that require for the prime minister post.

    “Despite the capacity of electing the largest numbers of MP in Maharashtra after Uttar Pradesh, no one became the Prime Minister from Maharashtra. We as Maharashtrians need to introspect over it,” NCP MP asked.

    “Sharad Pawar is the simple man and grounded man, connected to people at the age of 81 also. Pawar saheb neither needs the Rs 5 Lakh worth suit to wear nor Rs 1000 worth mushroom to eat.  We need to work hard to make Sharad Pawar the Prime Minister of India,” said Kohle.

    He added that Sharad Pawar is the ideological heir of Shahu Maharaj, the first king in India to offer reservations in pre-independent India to the oppressed class. “Like Shahu Maharaj, Sharad Pawar was the first person in India to bring the women reservations in local body elections. He also allowed entry of the women in defence services. He is a pioneer in many fields that were taboo for women.”

    “Sharad Pawar tirelessly worked for the oppressed class and women. His 40 years central politics is always around with the development of agriculture, defence and empowerment of downtrodden people,” Kohle said adding that any big leader from India has always sought help from Sharad Pawar.

    “Sharad Pawar’s political and administrative experience is vast. During the earthquake, erstwhile prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpai praised his work.

    NCP chief Jayant Patil said that there is an ideological crisis in India. “There is an ideological fight in India and this can be won ideologically only. The students and youth should join the NCP and take the progressive thought of the NCP to every nook and corner of the country. The last man in the community should join our fight against the BJP,” Patil said.

  • Uddhav government to rule Maharashtra for 25 years: Raut to BJP, Owaisi

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday pooh-poohed the Maharashtra BJP’s claim that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will soon collapse and asserted the three-party ruling alliance in the state will remain in power for 25 years.

    Talking to reporters after a meeting with NCP president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut hit out at the BJP over the recent riots in Amravati and the ongoing strike by Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees.

    The NCP is a key constituent of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

    The Congress is the third partner in the coalition.

    Taking a dig at state BJP president Chandrakant Patil for his reported comments that the MVA dispensation will soon collapse, Raut said he should wake up from slumber as the government will complete its second anniversary on November 28.

    The Sena MP said the MVA government will last for 25 years and its power centre is where he is standing, a reference to Pawar’s residence.

    “He (Patil) must be getting shocks after the early morning oath-taking ceremony. Chandrakant Patil has said this (predicting collapse of MVA) for nearly 28 times. The government will last for 25 years and I am standing near the power centre,” Raut said.

    In a dramatic turn of events on November 23, 2019, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Maharashtra CM with NCP legislator Ajit Pawar as his deputy in the wee hours, but their government lasted just for around 80 hours.

    The NCP president is considered the chief architect of the three-party alliance which assumed office on November 28, 2019.

    Without naming the BJP, a former ally of the Sena, Raut hit out at the opposition party over the ongoing strike by MSRTC employees and the recent violence in Amravati in eastern Maharashtra.

    “Everyone knows who is inciting the situation in Maharashtra and why it is being done, who is adding oil to the fire on the MSRTC issue, we have the information about this,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

    Attempts are being made to set fire in Maharashtra, from Amravati (a reference to the recent riots in the city) to MSRTC workers strike, Raut alleged.

    BJP MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe on Tuesday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is set to complete two years in power in Maharashtra later this month, has failed on all fronts and people were distressed.

    Addressing a press conference, he said the Uddhav Thackeray government had mismanaged issues related to women’s security, farmers, the MPSC and health department exams, MSRTC staff demands and students’ problems.

    “There has been an increase in violence against women, and the government is no longer talking about a bill they were planning to bring to curb it. It has forgotten ST (state transport) workers. Farmers have not got crop insurance or relief from the state government,” he alleged.

    All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday said the Shiv Sena was a communal party and the so-called secular parties like the Congress and NCP had joined hands with the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit to grab power in Maharashtra.

    In the process, Owaisi, who was addressing a party convention in Solapur, said the Muslim community had got a slap on the face from the Congress and NCP.

    “Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray decided to come together. I was urging the (Muslim) community to come together but you did not understand my appeal. Now they have come together and slapped you on the face,” he said.

    “I want to ask all those Muslims who became the victims of the lies of the NCP and Congress if they have an answer to my question. Will you be able to answer yourself that the parties you supported brought the Sena to power,” he asked.

    The Shiv Sena, like the BJP, was and would remain communal, Owaisi said, adding that “the Majlis, Muslims, Dalits or those who believe in secular values” do not need any certificate on secularism from such parties.

    Attacking Rahul Gandhi and Pawar, Owaisi said the two leaders ask Muslims to not vote for AIMIM, but had themselves aligned with the Sena to safeguard power, properties and families.

    “Have you forgotten what happened on the streets of Mumbai? Have you forgotten the Srikrishna Commission? Have you forgotten all those hateful statements? I remember everything,” Owaisi said further in his attack on the Congress and NCP.

    “Is it not true that CM Thackeray, standing in the Assembly, spoke about temple and masjid. Do you (NCP and Congress ) not feel ashamed when your CM says that we (Shiv Sena ) demolished Babri Masjid,” he said, and appealed to the Muslims to not believe the NCP and Congress anymore and to use their vote wisely.

  • Sharad Pawar warns about ‘urban naxalization’ in big cities of Maharashtra

    By PTI

    GADCHIROLI: Naxal activities are not limited to only remote areas of eastern Maharashtra but `urban naxalization’ is being seen in big cities of the state, NCP chief Sharad Pawar claimed on Thursday.

    He was speaking to reporters in Gadchiroli district of the state where at least 27 naxals including senior Maoist leader Milind Teltumbde were killed in an encounter with police last Saturday.

    Talking about the naxal menace in the district, which borders on Chhattisgarh, Pawar said the situation was improving.

    But there is this “new phenomenon” where some elements are trying to create hatred against the government in other parts of the state too, he said.

    ​ALSO READ | Milind Teltumbde among 26 Naxals killed in Maharashtra, say police

    “We can call this urban naxalisation,” Pawar said.

    “Some such forces are active in Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai and in parts of the Sahyadri ranges, as far as Kerala. There is a section which is trying to create public opinion and hatred against the government,” he said.

    Pawar’s party is part of the government in Maharashtra and its minister holds the home portfolio.

    “Special caution should be taken about this aspect immediately, otherwise new problems would emerge,” the NCP chief, who was Maharashtra chief minister four times, warned.

    Notably, BJP leaders have often used the term “urban naxals” to claim that Maoists have hidden supporters and sympathizers in urban areas.

    ALSO READ | Naxals free Chhattisgarh government peon, sub-engineer still in captivity

    Pawar, meanwhile, advocated a push to industrial development through mining in Surjagarh in Gadchiroli.

    Protests had been staged by locals against mining in the area recently.

    To a question about fear that mining will take away local tribals’ livelihood from natural resources, Pawar said farming should be improved to provide new job opportunities.

    “I feel that to remove the frustration of the young generation here, they should get job opportunities. Surjagarh will give them this right and opportunity in a big way and an important and permanent industry will develop here,” he added.

  • Another test for Uddhav? Cabinet reshuffle in Maharashtra likely after BMC elections

    Express News Service

    MUMBAI:  A reshuffle of the Maharashtra Cabinet is on the cards. The bigger question for Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar is whether the rejig should be done before or after the BMC polls in February next year.

    The Maha Vikas Aghadi government will complete two years at the end of this month. Although the BJP has been trying every trick in the book to topple the government, the alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP has not broken yet.

    “Now, the time has come to show the door to the non-performing ministers and induct fresh faces. The chief minister and the NCP chief have had a series of meetings on Cabinet expansion matters. Both are ready to have it before the BMC elections. However, Congress has conveyed that the Cabinet reshuffle should be done after the BMC polls,” said a senior NCP minister who requested anonymity.

    Congress sources said there are two — school education minister Varsha Gaikwad and fisheries minister Aslam Sheikh — from the party in the Cabinet. They need to keep both until the BMC polls.

    “Shortly before the crucial polls, no Congress minister will be replaced because it will send a wrong message to cadre and people. Once elections are over, on the basis of performance, a decision will be taken,” said a Congress minister close to Gandhi family.

    In NCP, there is talk that those who are not enthusiastic enough to run ministries or are unable to do justice to their portfolio will be replaced.

    “Pawar has monthly meetings with our ministers where their performance and people’s feedback are reviewed. The performing ministers will be given more responsibility. The party has been preparing a report card for each minister,” the NCP leader said.

    As far as Shiv Sena is concerned, forest minister Sanjay Rathod has resigned and that post has to be filled up. “Besides, there should be exchange of ministries after review of performance. Chief Minister Thackeray will take the final call,” said a Sena leader.

    Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Sunday mocked the NCP for not being able to win the recent Pandharpur Assembly bypoll and said the latter would “shut shop”in Vidarbha too as it had no base there.

    The Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena are allies who formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state in 2019 after the saffron alliance between the Sena and BJP broke.

    The Congress and NCP had ruled the state between 1999 and 2014.

    Speaking at a Congress meeting in Wardha, some 740 kilometres from here, Patole said, “The top NCP leadership was unable to retain the Pandharpur Assemby seat (in the recent bypolls). How much time will it take to shut shop in Vidarbha.”

    He later told reporters he made the comment as the Sharad Pawar-led party had no base in Vidarbha.

    (With PTI Inputs)