"Rahul Gandhi being taken seriously after Bharat Jodo Yatra, he will lead nation someday": Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar expressed his confidence in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's potential to provide leadership to the nation someday. Pawar's remarks came during an interaction at the India Today Conclave. He noted that after Rahul Gandhi's recent "Bharat Jodo Yatra," the Congress leader was being taken seriously on the national stage.

During the discussion, Pawar also emphasized that he had no intention of joining hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He dismissed the idea, stating that those who had defected from the NCP to the BJP had done so out of fear of investigative agencies.

Pawar further commented on the recent arrest of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. He believed that this action by the central probe agency would strengthen the INDIA (Indian National Democratic Alliance) bloc.

Regarding political alliances, Pawar disclosed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had indicated the AAP's willingness to allocate three out of seven seats in Delhi to the Congress. He also expressed optimism about the Congress's revival in Uttar Pradesh, a pivotal state in the Hindi heartland.

The veteran leader, often regarded as the architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra, expressed confidence in the MVA's ability to form the government in the state after the upcoming assembly elections. Pawar shared that they had conducted detailed constituency-wise analyses in Maharashtra, and he believed they could secure a significant number of seats in the elections.

He stated, "Definitely, we will form a government in Maharashtra...We honestly feel, by and large, in the last (Lok Sabha) elections, we got only four seats here. But this time, I will not be surprised if we get at least 50 per cent seats."