Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Sharad Pawar skips Rahul Gandhi’s rally
BackBack

Sharad Pawar skips Rahul Gandhi’s rally

NCP president chooses to campaign in Raigad instead to support party candidate Sunil Tatkare

In the past Sharad Pawar had indicated that he is not comfortable working with Rahul Gandhi.Premium
In the past Sharad Pawar had indicated that he is not comfortable working with Rahul Gandhi.

Mumbai: Sharad Pawar, president of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Union agriculture minister, skipped a rally addressed by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in Mumbai on Sunday and instead chose to campaign in Raigad on the outskirts of Mumbai to support party candidate and state water resource minister Sunil Tatkare.

According to the original schedule, the joint Congress and NCP rally at the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) ground in Mumbai was to be addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Pawar, but Sonia Gandhi’s rally was cancelled at the last moment because of her ill health.

Speaking at the rally, state’s rural development minister and NCP leader Jayant Patil said, “Pawar could not come to rally because the helicopter in which he was supposed to fly developed a technical snag."

Sonia Gandhi was supposed to address three rallies in Maharashtra, which included rallies at Nandurbar and Dhule.

In the past Pawar had indicated that he is not comfortable working with Rahul Gandhi. In an interview to a television channel in October, while replying to question about working in a cabinet led by Rahul Gandhi if United Progressive Alliance (UPA) comes back to power, Pawar said, “Here, there is no question of working together. There is a generation gap."

Addressing the rally, Rahul Gandhi said: “After coming to power, the first thing, not even the second thing, which UPA government will do is that it will pass the Bill giving 33% reservation to women."

Taking a dig at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said, “I saw a huge poster of BJP in Delhi talking about women empowerment but there were no women on the poster, only Modi’s image."

Modi is trying to take credit for all development in Gujarat over 66 years as if nothing happened in the state before Modi became chief minister, Rahul Gandhi said, adding that the Amul experiment was carried out much before Modi came on the political scene, and Gujarat’s diamond industry and textile industry flourished before Modi. Rahul Gandhi’s rally, which was expected to start at around 5 pm, began only around 7 pm as Gandhi had to change his tour programme and come to Mumbai at the last minute.

Despite the delay, a large crowd gathered at the venue. While intelligence department officials put the figure of number of people around 200,000, Congress leaders claimed it was attended by more than 300,000 people.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 21 Apr 2014, 01:05 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App