Congress cannot win votes anymore; Sharad Pawar links the Congress to UP Zamindars
Sharad Pawar links the Congress to UP Zamindars, who still think they are zamindars even though they have lost their zamindari, he said in a statement while speaking to India Today Group’s Marathi Web Channel Mumbai Tak.
Sharad Pawar is the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he founded in 1999, after separating from the Indian National Congress.
He holds a prominent position in Indian politics as well as in the regional politics of Maharashtra. During his long career, Pawar has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on three occasions and held the posts of Minister of Defence and Minister of Agriculture in the Government of India.
Speaking to India Today Group’s he stated “I had told a story about UP zamindars, who used to have huge land parcels and big Havelis. After the Land Ceiling Act, their lands shrank to 15-20 acres. They did not even have the power to maintain their Havelis. Every morning, they got up, looking at the land, and said that this all used to be ours. The mentality (of the Congress) is similar to that. The reality has to be accepted,” Pawar said.
“The Congress was stronger (in the past), unlike today when they have 40-45 MPs. At that time, they had a strength of around 140. The Congress’s number only says that. But it’s the only party that is relevant in the country. It has governments in 5-7 states. The only party that has a national presence against the BJP is the Congress,” Pawar said.
However, Sharad Pawar also added that with a pan-India presence, Congress continues to be the only nationally relevant party in the country that can provide an alternative to the BJP.
“But we are used to seeing the old Congress. Today’s Congress is nowhere close to that. That is because Congress has become weak; a lot of their people have left them. If you want to create an option today by bringing everyone together, the question is, for what? I won’t say to regain power but for stability and to take the agreed development program forward, which the Congress is unable to do today,” he further said.
“I don’t need any help from Prashant Kishor and I don’t have any ambitions today of any post. But yes, I would like to make efforts to bring the Opposition together,” he added.
