'Sharad Pawar not in PM race', Opposition unity paramount, says Praful Patel

Amid speculations across parties for the prime ministerial post for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections senior Nationalist Congress Party NCP leader Praful Patel on Sunday said that party chief Sharad Pawar neither was nor is the PM candidate reported the ANINCP MP Praful Patel added that his party chief can bring together various people and ideologiesPatels remarks came a day after Sharad Pawar was reelected as the president of the partySpeaking to the media after the conclusion of the eighth national convention of the party in the national capital according to the ANI Patel said Sharad Pawar neither was nor is the prime ministerial candidate Neither has he made any such statement We are aware of the reality We know about our limitations Our party might be smaller in comparison to the other parties but our leadership is big Sharad Pawar is not the face of the Opposition He is not in the raceDelhi Sharad Pawar is not aspiring for PM post he didnt do it in the past he is not thinking of it at present NCP has found national recognition will play imp role in General elections NCP MP Praful Patel pictwittercomTvUKlhVUYkmdash ANI ANI September 11 2022Further clarifying he added that it should not be taken in a way that we are in the race for leadershipPatel also dismissed the speculation of NCP being an alternative to the BJP and said that Pawar can build an atmosphere that can build trust among peopleAlso Read Resign and Face elections Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray tells Shinde campA question is always asked who will be up against the present ruling government in the country Sharad Pawar is a strong leader who can bring various people and ideologies together and through which we can play a strong political role We will play the responsibility of the Opposition We do not want to say that we will be the alternative but through Sharad Pawar an atmosphere can be built that can build trust among people said PatelHe emphasised that NCP and Sharad Pawar will play an important role in futureNCP has completed its 23 years and during this period it has got the recognition of a national party NCP will play an important role in future given the political atmosphere today in which Sharad Pawar will also have a crucial role to play he saidWe dont have any issue with Congress have worked with UPA in the past Patel addedThe declaration by the NCP comes amid the attempts by the Opposition leaders like Telagana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and others to bring together the likeminded parties against the BJP Recently KCR had visited Bihar and shared the stage with Kumar where he said that the decision on the PM candidate will be taken after discussionsKumar had visited the national capital earlier where he met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as part of the same attempt to bring the leaders on one platformThe race for the prime ministerial candidature from the Opposition group is seemingly growing tighter with the possible names popping up which include West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Delhi CM Kejriwal KCR Rahul Gandhi and Nitish KumarThe Opposition had made attempts to bring together all the leaders on a single page in 2019 general elections however the BJP beat them to emerge victorious with even more number of seats than in 2014 The BJP had won 282 seats in 2014 polls while it returned to power with 303 seatswith ANI inputs