Rubbishing claims of his candidature in the upcoming Presidential polls as "false", NCP Chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday, 14 July, said that he knows what the result will be as the BJP-led-NDA has more than 300 Members of Parliament (MPs).
Since speculation of his presidential candidature stemmed from reported meetings between Pawar and poll strategist Prashant Kishor, Pawar clarified that no such discussion was held. He also claimed that he had met Kishor twice and even the 2024 Lok Sabha elections were not discussed in either of those meetings.
Further, Pawar stated that he is not going to assume any leadership position in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
WHAT DID PAWAR SAY?
"It is absolutely false that I will be a candidate for the Presidential election. I know what will be the result, given the party that has more than 300 MPs. I will not be a candidate for the Presidential election."NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, according to ANI
"Prashant Kishor met me twice," the NCP chief added, further claiming that they "only talked about a company of his".
"No discussion was held regarding the leadership for the 2024 elections or the Presidential election," he said.
Pawar claimed that Prashant Kishor has told him that he has left the field of formulating poll strategies.
Pawar also, as per ANI, said that nothing has been decided so far, either pertaining to the 2024 general elections, or state elections.
MORE DETAILS
Meanwhile, NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik too was quoted by ANI as saying that no discussion has taken place within the party so far regarding the Presidential poll.
"If someone's circulating this news, then I'd like to clarify that it's not true," Malik added.
These clarifications come amid a slew of speculations regarding Prashant Kishor's meetings with Sharad Pawar. One of these meetings reportedly took place at Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi, with a host of Opposition leaders in attendance.
Prashant Kishor also met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at his residence in Delhi on Tuesday, further fuelling speculations of a united Opposition being set up ahead of the 2024 polls, to challenge the incumbent BJP.
According to reports, party leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, and Harish Rawat were also at Gandhi's residence when the meeting took place. Meanwhile, NDTV reported quoting sources that Sonia Gandhi was also present at the meeting virtually.
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