Those who want to save democratic principles should work together: Sharad Pawar after opposition meet

In a series of tweets following the virtual meeting, the NCP leader expressed his appreciation for the initiative to arrange a meeting of all the like-minded parties in the opposition, in the country’s present circumstances.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday called for like-minded parties to come together to save the “democratic principles” of the country, following a meeting with leaders of many opposition parties convened by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Pawar also said that the opposition parties must prioritise working together for a better future.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar met with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and other Opposition party leaders. (ANI)

In a series of tweets following the virtual meeting, the NCP leader expressed his appreciation for the initiative to arrange a meeting of all the like-minded parties in the opposition, in the country’s present circumstances.

“The present scenario in India appears to be very gloomy,” Pawar tweeted, adding that the country is facing many issues like economic slowdown and the Covid-19 pandemic. “Farmers have been protesting for many months, it is a painful picture for a democratic country like India. The nation is facing many issues today like economic slowdown, covid pandemic, unemployment, border dispute, issue of minority communities etc,” he further said.

Pawar then said that the Union government has failed to address the issues. “Those who believe in democracy and secularism, those who want to work together to save the democratic principles of our country, should come together. This is my call,” he said in a subsequent tweet.

Briefing his plan for a united opposition, Pawar suggested that the parties should collectively work towards solving these problems and towards a better future. “There is a need to start a time-bound program collectively and I suggest that instead of tackling all these issues together, we should make a priority to solve these issues collectively,” he added. He also said that they should work towards giving the country a better present and a future.

The virtual meeting was attended by 19 parties from the opposition including the Congress. The Shiv Sena, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the two Communist parties were among the other major parties to take part.

Many parties have expressed their support for a united opposition front against the ruling BJP. In June, Pawar met some opposition leaders at his residence. However, NCP leaders had dismissed speculations about the anti-BJP discussion. Pawar had also met twice with poll strategist Prashant Kishor in the same month.