CPN chief Sharad Pawar had two chances to become India’s prime minister, but his detractors in the Congress party denied him the same, CPN leader Praful Patel wrote in an article on the occasion of his 80th birthday. of the head of the PCN.
The article was published by Shiv Sena’s spokesman Saamna on Saturday.
“After the unfortunate death of Rajiv Gandhi during the 1991 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress party was in shock. There was a demand to appoint Pawar party chairman to handle the situation, but some parlor politicians conspired to block this. They did not want strong leadership for the party and therefore appointed PV Narsimha Rao president of the Congress, ”Patel wrote.
“After the results of the Lok Sabha elections, Congress came close to winning a majority (in Parliament) and again there was a demand to elect Pawar as prime minister. However, the same people got together and misused Sonia Gandhi’s name to name Rao prime minister, ”Patel says in the article.
“There has been a conspiracy against Pawar since 1989 when he was the Prime Minister of Maharashtra. I have witnessed conspiracies against him being hatched in Delhi. I have seen how he lost the post of prime minister when he was at a surprising distance from it, ”writes Patel.
He has also claimed that Rao was prejudiced against Pawar when the former was prime minister.
Later, in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, Congress lost the election. Patel says there could have been an opportunity for Pawar to make it to the main office as there was a fractured mandate.
Congress could win 145 seats. HD Deve Gowda, Mulayam Singh Yadav and the leaders of the left had shown their willingness to be part of the government if Pawar replaced Rao as the congressional candidate for the post of prime minister. Rao was unwilling and as such Congress had to extend external support to Deve Gowda, ”Patel said.
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Later, in 1997, the then president of Congress, Sitaram Kesari, withdrew support for the Deve Gowda government. “125 congressional deputies had gathered at Pawar’s residence and offered their support, but Pawar decided not to take any action to avoid a split in Congress. It was the second time that he lost the opportunity to obtain the position of prime minister ”, affirmed Patel.
Patel alleges that the persecution of Pawar by his detractors (in Congress) continued, causing him to float his separate party.
Congress has yet to officially react to Patel’s allegations.
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A congressional leader and former Union minister said: “In 1991, the party’s top brass wanted a candidate who had experience in managing central government portfolios. Rao and Arjun Singh were the favorites. As such, Rao was chosen. Pawar had only returned to Congress a few years ago, so the higher ups weren’t comfortable with him. In addition, they also considered the fact that the majority of the newly elected deputies of the party were from the south.
The congressional leader also reasoned why Pawar was left out even in 1996. “In 1996, Congress lost the elections and the third parties had more deputies than we did, so the party decided to respect the mandate and support Deve Gowda.” said the leader, not wanting to be named because the party has not yet officially reacted.
Significantly, veteran congressional leader Ulhas Pawar, in another article, has conjectured that Pawar would have reached the highest positions within the party had he remained in Congress. He has also called on Pawar to return to Congress.
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