All opposition parties should come on a common platform to counter BJP: Sharad Pawar after meeting PM Modi

The veteran politician said he was not ready to take the responsibility of heading UPA but said that a meeting of non-BJP like-minded parties should be called to discuss the future course of action.

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament on Wednesday and raised the issue of the Enforcement Directorate's actions against the ruling coalition in Maharashtra. The meeting went for around 20 minutes during which Pawar asked if action against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, whose assets were seized by ED on Tuesday, was because he spoke against the government.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Pawar said: "There was no reason to take any action against Sanjay Raut just because he used to criticise the government. When Central Agencies take such action, the government must take responsibility." On the opposition uniting against the BJP government, Pawar said that his party NCP, Congress, and Shiv Sena will come together to counter the saffron party. "NCP has nothing to do with the BJP," Pawar said.

The veteran politician said he was not ready to take the responsibility of heading UPA but said that a meeting of non-BJP like-minded parties should be called to discuss the future course of action. "All opposition parties should come on a common platform, meet and discuss how to raise issues like price rise, especially fuel prices hike, unemployment and other issues," he said, adding that Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee had written to him in this regard.

He also trashed the reports of internal conflict in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress in Maharashtra. "It is the responsibility of those who are in power, to not make anyone feel ignored or sidelined. No such matter is raised when we sit and talk one-to-one," he said. Pawar's meeting with the PM came a day after the former hosted Maharashtra MLAs and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, among others for dinner at his residence. It also followed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attaching properties worth crores belonging to Sanjay Raut and his family members under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).