Sharad Pawar

The veteran politician who was speaking at an event in Pune said his decision to come back as Maharashtra chief minister was an emotional one that he was asked to take by the government in power then.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, J&K National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and DMK leader T R Baalu were among the leaders who met Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence.

Mamata Banerjee, who has met top Shiv Sena and NCP leaders over the past two days, indicated that she may be planning a fresh coalition of opposition parties. "What is UPA? There is no UPA," the TMC supremo told reporters.

Mamata Banerjee is also expected to meet industrialists in Mumbai on December 1 and invite them to Bengal Global Business Summit, to be held in April next year.

Sharad Pawar also slammed the Centre for introducing the three farm bills and getting them passed "in haste" without any discussion and without taking state governments into confidence.

Farmers have been camping on Delhi borders for the last several months against the three new laws which the government says liberalize the agriculture sector.

We have decided that we will back Akhilesh Singh Yadav in Uttar Pradesh. If we contest a few seats, then that will be in consultation with the Samajwadi Party, Pawar added.

The NCP, which shares power in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and Congress, had earlier said it will face the onslaught of central agencies on its leaders and workers will full vigour.

Describing the violence as an "attack on farmers", Sharad Pawar, a former Union Agriculture Minister, said its responsibility lies with the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh and the "people will show them their place."

The two leaders from rival parties shared the dais at a function at Ahmednagar in Maharashtra.

Sharad Pawar is considered the architect and anchor of the MVA government which came to power after the 2019 Assembly elections following a fallout between Sena and BJP, who had shared power from 2014 to 2019.

An NCP office-bearer said that Pawar reached Thackeray's official bungalow "Varsha" around 12.45 pm.

The veteran politician said the "perspective" of the top bank towards cooperative banks is "not at all appropriate".

Pawar added that as the agriculture minister, he had ensured that if farmers get good prices for their produce, they would not only fulfil the country's needs, but also go for export, and it has been proven by farmers.

The Union government is also ignoring the farmers who have been protesting against the new farm laws for over a year, the former agriculture minister said.

"The current scenario in India appears very gloomy. Farmers are protesting for many months, it’s an anguishing picture for a democratic country like India. The nation is facing many issues like inflation, economic slowdown, Covid mitigation, unemployment, border disputes, issue of the minority communities etc,” NCP chief tweeted.

Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Shiromani Akali Dal have not been invited for the meeting.

Pawar further said a probe was needed into the allegations that 'outsiders' entered the House when it was in session.

Mamata Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Monday on her first visit to the national capital since assuming office as the West Bengal CM for a third term and is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind.

The state government has demanded that the Centre intervene and take steps to relax the 50 percent limit for reservations to restore political quota for OBCs in local bodies and in jobs and education for the Marathas.