Oppn needs to forge unity based on common minimum programme against BJP: Pawar

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 reported the PTITalking to reporters in Jalgaon 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 powerIf 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 assertedInforming that he would put forth his view in the meeting of opposition parties to be held in Patna in Bihar on June 23 Pawar said All nonBJP parties need to sit together and think about forging opposition unity on the basis of a common minimum programmeThe BJP made big assurances raised expectations of people but did nothing It is time to provide an alternative the former Union minister saidAlso readMaha Fadnavis brushes aside query about contentious advertisement showcasing CMs popularityQueried on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi led by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao speaking about making inroads into Maharashtra Pawar said the CongressNCP alliance had faced reverses in the 2019 polls due to the presence of Prakash Ambedkars Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi VBAEven 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 saidRao 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 strengthAsked about the Uniform Civil Code 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 itQueried on the newlyelected Congress government in Karnataka removing chapters on Hindutva ideologue late VD Savarkar and RSS founder Keshav Hedgewar from school books Pawar said the Congress had promised such a move in its Assembly poll manifestoThe Congress there had promised to remove chapters that impact social unity he saidIf the people of Karnataka have voted them to power it means they agree with the Congress view Pawar addedOn the acrimony created by an advertisement that appeared in several dailies on Tuesday claiming that a survey showed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was more popular than his deputy Devendra Fadnavis the NCP leader said it had cleared a misunderstanding that the BJP had a big role in the ruling dispensationThe advertisement played a historical role in creating awareness about the fact Similarly the print media benefited he said in a swipe at the ShindeFadnavis governmentW war of words erupted over a newspaper advertisement that projected Shinde as being more popular in the state than his deputy FadnavisThe fullpage advertisement which also had a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared in major newspapers in the state on Tuesday citing a survey that showed Shinde was ahead of Fadnavis in popularityThe advertisement which did not have pictures of either Fadnavis or Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray fuelled talks about a possible rift among the two allies whose government will complete one year in office on June 30 PTI