Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, in an interview with India Today on Thursday, 9 September, said that the Indian National Congress (INC) should accept that it no longer wields influence over the country like it once did.
"There was a time when there was Congress from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. But not so anymore. This (reality) should be accepted. The closeness (with other opposition parties) will increase once there is a mentality (within Congress) to accept this (fact)," Pawar told India Today group's Mumbai Tak channel, as per a report by news agency PTI.
Opining that the Congress was not willing to budge on the issue of its party leadership, Pawar indicated that "zamindars who have lost most of their land are unable to maintain their haveli."
Pawar, whose party is allied with the Congress in Maharashtra's Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition government, had held a series of meetings with political strategist Prashant Kishor in June this year, fuelling speculation that a national united front may be formed against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
After an opposition parties' meet hosted at the NCP leader's residence in June, Pawar had stated that Congress must be at the centre of any alternative front against the BJP.
In the interview with India Today, Pawar iterated that he would like to make efforts to bring the opposition parties together.
(With inputs from India Today and PTI.)
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