Pawar dismisses rumours, says NCP will support secular parties

Amid accusations that his party could go with the BJP after the Maharashtra Assembly polls, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today asserted his support for secular parties.

"NCP has always stood by the secular parties and will do the same in future," Pawar told mediapersons.

Taking a jibe at the recent remarks of a political leader that NCP would grab Muslim votes and later go with the saffron parties, Pawar said his party does not need to ask anybody (what to do).

The NCP's history shows that it has always supported secular parties, he said.

He said his party was concentrating on winning more seats rather than on forming the next state government.

When asked about severing of ties with the Congress, he blamed the latter for it and claimed that their former ally had decided much earlier (to split), but declared it later.

They (Congress) declared the list of candidates when the talks between both the parties were on, Pawar pointed out saying this was enough to support his statement.

Replying to a question, he said during the parliamentary elections earlier this year, the BJP presented Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate and got good response from the voters.

In view of this, the other parties had to suffer loss but that would not be the situation in the Assembly elections, the former union minister said.

Replying to another question that whether the party would pitch-in Ajit Pawar or Supriya Sule for the post of chief minister, if NCP gets a chance to form the government, he said the members of the Assembly would decide on the issue.