This Article is From Apr 17, 2014

Narendra Modi says 'excellent ties' with Sharad Pawar, who attacks him at rally

Narendra Modi says 'excellent ties' with Sharad Pawar, who attacks him at rally

File pic: Sharad Pawar

Mumbai: Shortly after Narendra Modi spoke about his "excellent personal relations" with him, Maharashtra politician Sharad Pawar directed a sharp jibe at him, saying he had never seen a prime ministerial candidate who sought votes for himself.

"We have seen Prime Ministers like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and now Dr Manmohan Singh. But they never asked people to vote for themselves but for the country. But here is a person who is seeking votes for himself," Mr Pawar said at an election rally in Mumbai yesterday.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader also questioned Mr Modi's claims of exceptional development in his Gujarat, saying the state's growth rate had declined during his rule.

"Previous Congress Chief Ministers such as Madhavsingh Solanki, Amarsinh Chaudhary and Chimanbhai Patel had done better work than Modi. He is taking credit for the hard work of ordinary Gujratis," he said.

Mr Pawar's NCP has been with the Congress-led coalition for 15 years and co-governs Maharashtra with the Congress.

His criticism came on a day Mr Modi said in an interview, "Politically Sharad Pawar and I trade sharp criticism, personally both of us have good relations." The BJP's prime ministerial nominee counted Mr Pawar and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa among politicians with whom he shared a rapport despite political differences.

Mr Pawar, 78, has rubbished speculation that he was warming up to the BJP after he said in February that there was no need for a debate on Mr Modi's alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots when the courts had ruled on it. He reportedly even met Mr Modi, but dismissed it as routine.

Earlier this month, the veteran Maharashtra politician dismissed as "the joke of the year", Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's comment to NDTV that Mr Pawar wanted to cross over to the BJP-led alliance but he had blocked it.
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