NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the key architect of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition in Maharashtra, turned 80 today.
Pawar was instrumental in the formation of the NCP- Congress's unlikely tie-up with the Shiv Sena last year, after the Sena fell out with its ally BJP following the assembly polls.
Not just the post-poll strategies, even before the Maharashtra assembly elections in 2019, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had left no stone unturned to woo voters.
During an election rally Satara, Pawar spoke even after it started raining heavily. He refused the umbrella he was offered saying, “Varun Raja (rain god in the Hindu mythology) has blessed the NCP. With his blessings, Satara district will now do magic in the upcoming polls.”
While the rally organisers were rethinking about the rally after the sudden shower, Pawar remained undeterred, stepped to the dais and launched a blistering attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in the Centre and state.
Photographs and videos of Sharad Pawar addressing an election rally in Maharashtra’s Satara amid heavy rains did rounds on social media platforms. The speech was made at a campaign rally for NCP's Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil in the Satara Lok Sabha bypolls.
Patil contested the election against Udayanraje Bhosale, a direct descendent of the Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Bhosale was a sitting NCP MP from Satara but had quit to rejoin the BJP early September. Bhosale lost the seat to Patil in the bypolls.
As the speech completed a year on October 17, NCP celebrated the moment by posting a video on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday wished Nationalist Congress Party chief (NCP) Sharad Pawar on his 80th birthday.
"Best wishes to Sharad Pawar Ji on his birthday. May Almighty bless with good health and a long life," PM Modi wrote on Twitter.
