Left Congress, But Never Gave Up Gandhi, Nehru Ideologies: Sharad Pawar

NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said he never gave up the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Yashwantrao Chavan even after parting ways with the Congress to form his own party.

Speaking at an event in Pune, he said he does not repent that he waited till 1999 to form the Nationalist Congress Party.

"My family followed some different ideology, it was more of Leftist ideology. I came to Pune in 1958 and the youth like me were driven by the ideologies of Gandhi, Nehru, and Chavan. We went to the bottom of that thought and adopted it and worked further," he said.

"The Congress was the mainstay of that ideology and that is why never thought of going away from it. Never thought of doing something different. I had to take this decision (of forming NCP ) because the Congress had removed me from the party for six years," he said.

He said he paid the price for putting forth some opinions in the Congress executive meet that did not get "digested".

"Even if we left the Congress and formed NCP, we never gave up the thoughts of Gandhi, Nehru and Chavan," he stressed.

When asked that there was a common perception Mr Pawar's help would be needed to bring the Congress into the mainstream, he said the need today was that all like-minded elements come together as the overall situation of the country was a little "anxious".

He added that farm bills were brought to Parliament and passed without any discussion.

Mr Pawar was speaking at a book launch and an event organised by Marathi daily Loksatta. 

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