Pawar Questions If Modi Has Mandate For Third Term As PM

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken oath of office for a third successive term, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar sought to know whether he had the mandate to lead the country.

The senior politician was speaking at a party congregation in Ahmednagar, which is located around 125 km from Pune, on the occasion of the NCP’s 25th foundation day where newly-elected party MPs were felicitated.

The saffron party fell short of a majority in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections and had to take the support of its allies to form the new coalition government at the Centre, Pawar noted on Monday, 10 June.

Pawar said, “Narendra Modi took the oath as Prime Minister (on 9 June). But before taking the oath, did he have the mandate of the country? Did the people of the country give him consent? They (BJP) did not have a majority. They had to take the help of the Telugu Desam Party and Bihar chief minister (Nitish Kumar)….because of them he could form the government.”

Pawar, who is a former Union minister, also remarked that the new BJP-led NDA government was different from the earlier ones. Referring to the Lok Sabha poll results, he said, “During the election period, Modi, wherever he went (for campaigning), did not refer to the government as ‘Government of India’…it used to be called Modi Sarkar, Modi’s guarantee. Today that Modi guarantee is no longer there. Today it is no longer a Modi Sarkar. Today, because of your vote, they have to say this is not a Modi Sarkar, it is the Government of India. Today because of you, they have to take a different approach.”

Pawar said the post of PM is of the country and not of a particular party, adding that the incumbent must think of all segments of society, castes and creeds. “But Modi forgot to do this. I think he did it deliberately. Minorities like Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis are an important part of the country. They must have faith in the government but Modi failed to do this. In a (campaign) speech, he spoke about a class of people having more children. It is clear he meant the Muslims.”

He added, “He (PM) said if power goes into the hands of these people, they will snatch away mangalsutras of women etc. Have such things ever happened in the country? Should a prime minister talk like this? Modi did not observe restraint when it came to criticising others.”

While speaking about the NCP (SP), Pawar said that it would create a new and accomplished team to garner the support of the people. He said, “”Not only in Maharashtra, but we will also have to work in Haryana and Jharkhand, where elections are scheduled to take place in the next three months, and form governments.” He asked party functionaries to protect the interests of the marginalised sections of society and strengthen the organisation. Pawar noted that people thought that the Ram Temple construction would be relevant in politics but the BJP candidate was defeated in Ayodhya itself.

“Tomorrow if I visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, I will not use it for my politics. People of Ayodhya took note of the wrong done by Modi and ensured the defeat of the BJP candidate,” the NCP (SP) president said.