Modi wanted us to work together, I rejected his offer: Sharad Pawar
Mumbai, Dec 2: NCP chief Sharad Pawar has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had proposed "working together" but he rejected the offer.
Pawar said he made it clear to Modi that it won't be possible for him to work together with the PM.
"Modi had offered me to work together. I told him that our personal relations are very good and they will remain that way but it is not possible for me to work together," Pawar said in an interview to a Marathi TV channel on Monday.
Pawar dismissed reports that Modi government offered to make him India's President. "But there was an offer to make Supriya (Sule) a minister in the Modi-led cabinet," he added.
Supriya Sule is Pawar's daughter and a Lok Sabha member from Baramati in Pune district.
Pawar had met Modi in Delhi last month amid dramatic developments over government formation in Maharashtra.
Modi has always praised Pawar and made it a point not to launch a vicious attack against him during the state election campaign.
Modi's latest praise for Pawar came last month when he was speaking on the occasion of 250th session of the Rajya Sabha. Modi said other parties, including the BJP, should learn from the NCP on how to adhere to parliamentary norms.
In 2016, when Modi visited the Vasantdada Sugar Institute in Pune on an invitation from Pawar, he had praised the NCP chief as an example to others in public life.
"I have personal respect for Pawar. I was the Gujarat chief minister that time. He helped me walk by holding my finger. I feel proud to pronounce this publicly," Modi had said.
Pawar also said not swearing in Ajit Pawar when Uddhav Thackeray took oath as CM on November 28 was a "conscious decision", prompted by the NCP leader's sudden support to Devendra Fadnavis, who became CM only to quit three day later after Ajit Pawar resigned as deputy CM.
Thackeray took over as chief minister over a month after Assembly poll results were declared on October 24.
"When I came to know about Ajit's support (to Fadnavis), the first person I contacted was Thackeray. I told him what happened was not right and gave him confidence that I will crush this (Ajit's rebellion)," Pawar said.
"When all in NCP came to know my support was not there for Ajit's action, those five-ten (MLAs) who were with him, there was pressure on them," he said.
The NCP chief said he is not aware if anyone in the (Pawar) family spoke (to Ajit Pawar to make him rethink his decision to back Fadnavis). "But all in the family felt what Ajit did was wrong," he said.
"I later told him what he did was unpardonable. That anybody (doing so) will have to bear the consequences and you are no exception," he said.
"At the same time there is a big section (in NCP) which has 'asthaa' (faith) in him... He gets things done," Pawar said.
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Nearly 61 per cent turnout in phase 2 of LS polls; Tripura records 78.53 pc, Manipur 77.18
New Delhi, Apr 26: Nearly 61 per cent polling was reported in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections covering 88 seats across 13 states amid few complaints of EVM glitches and bogus voting in some states.
Voters in some villages of Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, Rajasthan's Banswara and Maharashtra's Parbhani were boycotting the polls over various issues but were later persuaded by authorities to cast their franchise.
Polling for the second stage of the seven-phase elections started at 7 am and ended at 6 pm. Several states experienced intense heat conditions. The first phase of polling was held on April 19 in 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories.
The Election Commission (EC) said polling remained largely peaceful. The tentative figure at 7 pm of voter turnout of 60.96 per cent is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained, the EC said, adding voters reaching polling stations till the end of polling hour are allowed to cast their vote.
The National Democratic alliance (NDA) under Prime Minister Modi is seeking a stronger majority for a third consecutive term, while the constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc are hoping for a rebound after facing reverses in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Election Commission data showed the highest voting percentage was recorded in Tripura which registered 78.53 per cent polling, followed by Manipur at 77.18 while the turnout was in Uttar Pradesh at 53.71 per cent and Maharashtra 53.84 per cent.
Polling was held in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, 8 seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, 6 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 5 seats each in Assam and Bihar, 3 seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and 1 seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and actor-turned-politician Arun Govil, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's brother DK Suresh (Cong), and former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy (JDS) are among the key candidates while BJP's Hema Malini, Om Birla and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat seeking a hat-trick of wins from their respective constituencies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the morning urged people to cast their votes in record numbers and said a high voter turnout strengthens democracy. Stressing on the importance of each vote, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi issued impassioned appeals asking people to step out and exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election.
After the end of polling, Modi in a tweet said, "Phase Two has been too good!
Gratitude to the people across India who have voted today. The unparalleled support for NDA is going to disappoint the Opposition even more. Voters want NDA's good governance. Youth and women voters are powering the strong NDA support."
In Kerala, the turnout was 65.23 per cent. The election process, held amid tight security arrangements, was primarily incident free except for instances of bogus voting and breakdowns of electronic voting machines (EVMs) being reported in some booths of the state. Such incidents resulted in delaying the polling process in the affected booths.
One person each reportedly died at Palakkad, Alappuzha and Malappuram after casting their vote and a polling agent died after collapsing at a booth in Kozhikode.
Tripura East Lok Sabha constituency recorded a turnout of 78.48 per cent. Election officials said there were some complaints from a few booths but those were "promptly addressed".
A jawan of the Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Force deployed on poll duty allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle at a government school where he was stationed in Gariaband district under the Mahasamund seat in Chhattisgarh, where a voter turnout of 72.61 per cent was recorded.
A polling booth at Sivni village in Balod district (Kanker seat) was decorated like a wedding 'mandap', with a display of rituals of traditional weddings. Several brides and grooms, dressed in their wedding finery, cast their votes at several polling booths.
The EC said people from 46 villages in Bastar and Kanker seats cast their votes in a polling booth set up in their own village for the first time in a Lok Sabha election.
In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, there was a turnout of 55.77 per cent.
An estimated 70.68 per cent of the 77,26,668 voters exercised their franchise in the five parliamentary constituencies of Assam that went to polls in this phase.
In restive Manipur, where polling is being held under high presence of security personnel, the turnout was a high 77.18 per cent.
There were reports of intimidation by suspected militants, altercation between Congress workers and NPF supporters and damage of EVM at a polling station in the Tangkhul Naga-dominated hill district.
At KK Leishi Phanit polling station in Ukhrul, irate voters destroyed an EVM and other items after alleged disturbances by armed miscreants.
The overall voting percentage in Karnataka was 64.85.
A case was booked against BJP MP and Bangalore South Candidate Tejasvi Surya for allegedly posting a video on a social media platform and soliciting votes on the grounds of religion, the Election Commission said.
Another BJP leader CT Ravi was booked for allegedly promoting hatred and enmity between citizens through his social media post.
Various restaurants in Bangalore were offering free dosas, laddu, coffee and other food items at discounted rates to customers who cast their vote.
A private hospital assisted 41 inpatients cast their vote with the help of city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Green corridors were created for the ambulances across constituencies to ensure easy, hassle-free voting.
Some EVMs were destroyed at a polling station in Indiganatha village in Chamarajanagara district of Karnataka during a clash between two groups of people over whether to vote or not. Officials said an FIR is being filed the Election Commission will take a call after getting a detailed report.
A voter turnout of 53.84 per cent was recorded in eight constituencies in Maharashtra, while in Rajasthan, the turnout was 62.46 per cent. Incidents of confrontation between the supporters of the Congress candidate and an independent candidate were reported at a couple of places during polling in Barmer-Jaisalmer Lok Sabha constituency of Rajasthan.
Police said they were looking into the complaints besides some about fake voting from some places.
The by-election for the Bagidora assembly constituency in Banswara district was also held simultaneously on Friday and 73.25 per cent voting took place.
A voter turnout of 53.71 per cent was recorded in the eight parliamentary constituencies of Uttar Pradesh. Senior citizens dominated the early hours of voting in Noida in the Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency. Some residents' welfare associations made arrangements for electric vehicles to ferry voters to and from the polling booths.
In Bihar, the turnout was 54.91 per cent, 71.84 per cent in in West Bengal and 71.21 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lok Sabha polls are the first major electoral battle in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into Union territories -- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh -- on August 5, 2019.
The Election Commission registered nearly 300 complaints in West Bengal, mostly related to EVM malfunctioning.
After Friday's phase, polling is over in Kerala, Rajasthan and Tripura. In the first phase on April 19, polling was completed in all seats of Tamil Nadu (39), Uttarakhand (5), Arunachal Pradesh (2), Meghalaya (2), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Puducherry (1), Sikkim (1) and Lakshadweep (1).
The third phase of elections for 94 seats across 12 states and Union territories will be held on May 7. Counting will be done on June 4.
