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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nJalgaon: <\/b><\/p>\n
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said he would persuade all opposition parties to forge unity based on a common minimum programme to provide an alternative to the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.<\/p>\n
Talking to reporters, the opposition stalwart said the Bharatiya Janata Party had been rejected in a majority of the states where it was ruling, adding that the saffron party had toppled elected governments to grab power.<\/p>\n
“If the people have rejected the BJP at the state level, their (citizens) view will not be any different at the national level,” the NCP chief asserted.<\/p>\n
Informing that he would put forth his view in the meeting of opposition parties to be held in Patna in Bihar on June 23, Mr Pawar said, “All non-BJP parties need to sit together and think about forging opposition\u00a0unity on the basis of a common minimum programme.” “The BJP made big assurances, raised expectations of people but did nothing. It is time to provide an alternative,” the former Union minister said.<\/p>\n
Queried on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao speaking about making inroads into Maharashtra, Mr Pawar said the Congress-NCP alliance had faced reverses in the 2019 polls due to the presence of Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).<\/p>\n
“Even though all parties have the right to expand their base in any state, it remains to be seen if the BRS is a B team (of the BJP),” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Rao opened a party office in Nagpur on Thursday and had said the BRS would expand its base in Maharashtra to fight upcoming polls on its own strength.<\/p>\n
Asked about the Uniform Civil Code, Mr Pawar said there was need for a population control law for all citizens irrespective of caste and religion, but one needs to know whether the UCC is “targeted at a particular community” and “then we can speak (on it)”.<\/p>\n
Queried on the newly-elected Congress government in Karnataka removing chapters on Hindutva ideologue late VD Savarkar and RSS founder Keshav Hedgewar from school books, Mr Pawar said the Congress had promised such a move in its Assembly poll manifesto.<\/p>\n
If the people of Karnataka have voted them to power, it means they agree with the Congress’ view, Mr Pawar added.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n