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Liz Mathew
Baramati, Aug 18: Sharad Pawar is extremely busy these days. A self-confessed aspirant for the prime minister's post, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief is hopping from one state to another to ensure that if not king, he at least ends up as kingmaker in the 13th Lok Sabha.
Zooming along in his heavily-guarded bullet-proof car from his Baramati parliamentary constituency to Kolhapur, both in Maharashtra, Pawar told India Abroad News Service: "If a person who has only 30 days of experience in politics can vie for the post of prime minister, why shouldn't I?" The target, as usual, was his new arch rival, Congress party president Sonia Gandhi. Pawar was expelled from the Congress party along with two other senior leaders, PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar, after they questioned Sonia Gandhi's eligibility to become prime minister because she was Italy-born.
He said that he could never accept a foreign-born person as prime minister of India. "She (Sonia Gandhi) kept saying that she did not need any power or post in the party," he recalled. "She dethroned Sitaram Kesri and took over as party president....After the last general election she became the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, amending the constitution of the party, even though she was not a member of either House of Parliament," he said.
Pawar claimed the nation was shocked when it watched Sonia Gandhi declare in front of Rashtrapati Bhavan in April that she had the support of 272 members of the Lok Sabha to form an alternative government.
Pawar said what he had done -- raising questions -- was not a crime in a democratic party, which the Congress is supposed to be. "I just wanted to discuss the issue of her foreign origin in the highest body of the party. It is not (Italian dictator Benito) Mussolini's party. It's a party of (Mahatma) Gandhi and (Jawaharlal) Nehru," he said.
Though admitting that he had nothing against "dynastic politics" -- which the Nehru-Gandhi family is accused of following by rivals -- Pawar claimed Sonia Gandhi's "charisma" would never get the Congress party votes. "The Gandhi-Nehru family label is her only capital and will work only in southern India," he claimed.
Pawar said if he became prime minister, he would amend the Citizenship Act to bar naturalised citizens from holding high posts. Asked why he had said Sonia Gandhi was a "security risk," Pawar said: "Suppose a Pakistani became prime minister of India. How he or she will react to a Kargil-like situation?"
Pawar said he expected his old party to support him to form a government in case both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to get a majority in the upcoming elections. Rejecting media reports that he might become chief minister of Maharashtra if the NCP wins a clear majority in the Assembly elections in the state, he said: "My area of operation is Delhi."Pawar, who has been playing the `Maratha card' to ensure his party's victory in Maharashtra , predicted the NCP would emerge as a key player in the elections and would be in a position to lead a third force. "We will sweep Maharashtra, northeastern states, Bihar, Rajasthan and Gujarat," he claimed. "We will have an alliance with (former Prime Minister H.D.) Deve Gowda in Karnataka."
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
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