Congress indispensable; not interested in becoming UPA chairperson or leading anti-BJP front: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party NCP president Sharad Pawar on Sunday said he wont lead an antiBJP front and is also not keen to become the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance UPASpeaking to reporters in Kolhapur in western Maharashtra Pawar also said that Congress cannot be excluded from any initiative aimed at providing an alternative to the BJP at the Centre I am not going to take up any responsibility to lead any front comprising various parties against the BJP he saidIn the same breath Pawar also said that he wont lead the UPA currently helmed by Congress Recently some youth workers of our party NCP passed a resolution asking me to become the chairperson of the UPA But I am not at all interested in that position I am not going to get into that I will not take up that responsibility the former Union minister said when asked about his stand if he is asked to lead the antiBJP bloc If an attempt is made to provide an alternative to the BJP I am ready to cooperate support and strengthen such bloc Pawar said adding we have been doing itWhen it is said that the Opposition should come together then some facts need not be neglected Mamata Banerjees TMC is the strongest party in West Bengal and they enjoy peoples support At the same time regional parties are also strong in their respective states Pawar said He said Congress has a panIndia presence even though the Grand Old Party is not in power currently You will find Congress workers in every village district and state in the country Reality is that the Congress which has a wide presence must be taken on board while providing an alternative to BJP the NCP chief saidQueried on BJP leader Nitin Gadkaris statement that Congress needs to be strong Pawar underlined the need for a strong opposition party for a healthy democracy If only one party is strong then it will become like Russian President Vladimir Putin He and the Chinese president have resolved to lead their countries till they are alive I hope India should not have such Putiniquest he said Taking a dig at the BJPled Central government Pawar said that allegations were raised that the Enforcement Directorate ED is used for extorting money Before and after raids are conducted there are talks about settlements with ED officials If this is true and the government is not reining the agency then the Centre should answer if anyone asks whether they are involved in corruption Pawar added He said inflation is a major issue in the countryHe said prices of fuel are being raised every other day under the BJP rule which is not only affecting the common peoples finances but also contributing to the price rise and the higher cost of transport I am not saying that fuel prices were not hiked in the past but now they are being increased every day This is a major issue but the government is looking the other wayiquest Pawar alleged Speaking about The Kashmir Files Pawar said the movie is made in such a way that the people of other religions will become angry He reiterated that VP Singhs government and not Congress was in power at the Centre during the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had become the home minister of India at that time with the support of BJP A section inclined towards Pakistan then started attacking Muslims who wanted to stay with India and also Hindus It was the responsibility of the then ruling party to protect these people But instead of protecting them they asked Hindus to leave the Valley Pawar claimedHe said the film was not based on facts but it will promote racism and hatred If such film is promoted by the head of the nation and his party started distributing free tickets this only means that they want to divide people and derive a political mileage Pawar said without taking the names of PM Narendra Modi and BJP He said the situation in Gujrat was worse than in the Valley during the postGodhra communal riots in 2002Many people lost their lives but I never heard the then head of Gujarat coming forward to explain Pawar said in a veiled swipe at Modi who was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time of the riots Talking about Swabhimani Shetkari Paksha SSP Pawar said no party should walk out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi If they SSP have any misunderstanding then its our responsibility to clear their doubts he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever