Sharad Pawar re-elected as NCP chief

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) at its extended working committee meeting in Delhi on Saturday re-elected Sharad Pawar as the party president for the next four years.

In his speech, Pawar attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the remission granted to 11 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and the killings of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Pawar referred to how Modi had spoken about gender equality and respect for women in his Independence Day speech. “But soon after, the people who were involved in this heinous crime and were convicted in it were granted remission by the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] government in Gujarat,” he said, while calling for a programme to counter the BJP.

The party’s national convention scheduled to be held in Delhi on Sunday will see discussions on this issue.

“We are witnessing a different situation in the country today,” Pawar said, adding that it was the first time in the history of independent India that farmers had to launch an agitation on the borders of Delhi, seeking the repeal of the three farm laws.

NCP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel said, “In political affairs, Pawar saheb and the NCP will play an important role in the coming times.”

He pointed to how leaders across the political spectrum like chief ministers and regional satraps like Nitish Kumar (Bihar), K Chandrashekar Rao (Telangana), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav consulted Pawar.