BJP will emerge as the single largest party but Modi will not be PM again, Sharad Pawar predicts

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar predicted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be back in that position after the general elections this year.
Pawar was speaking to media persons at length after awarding Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan with the 'Yashwantrao Chavan National Award 2018' for his contribution to economic development. Rajan was not present but he had video recorded his message for the function on the occasion of the 106th birth anniversary of Yashwantrao Chavan, the first chief minister of Maharashtra.
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After the function, Pawar who has been in politics for over five decades said, "The little bit of politics that I understand, according to an assessment of mine, I don't think after this election Modiji will again become prime minister. I am not an astrologer but the number that they are looking for, they will not get."
On the issue of not contesting the elections, Pawar who has contested 14 times said, "For 52 years I have continuously been in politics. I



am now 79. There is a time when someone has to think about it." However there had been rumours about his nephew Ajit Pawar insisting that his son Parth Pawar should be given a ticket from Maval constituency. While there are rumours that Pawar himself was of the opinion that if so many members of the family contested, it would leave the party cadre disheartened. Setting all these rumours aside, Pawar said that it was for the party to decide who would contest from where.
Talking on the issue of him mediating for an AAP and Congress tie up in Delhi for the forthcoming elections which failed, Pawar said that he did not want to blame anyone for this not happening. Pawar is said to have tried to hold meetings between AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi so that votes against BJP would not split in Delhi. However the talks had failed. But even in such a situation, Pawar was all praises for Rahul Gandhi. Pawar said, "He is leading his party and is working hard. I believe that the kind of effort he is in putting in, he will get good results."