NCP sees nothing wrong in Sharad Pawar's 'Rahul Gandhi lacks consistency' assessment

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday defended its supremo Sharad Pawar’s comment that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seemed to “lack consistency”, saying that his remark should be considered as “fatherly advice”.

A day after Pawar's remarks on Rahul Gandhi caused tremors to be felt in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase rushed to set the record straight and said the veteran leader's remarks should be accepted s it was fatherly advice.

"Whatever Sharad Pawar Saheb said in the interview with a news organisation should be considered as fatherly advice of a veteran leader. MVA is a government of all three parties. It was Sharad Pawar who criticised Barack Obama for commenting on Rahul Gandhi in his book. Pawar Saheb had clearly said Obama must not comment on leaders of other countries," Tapase said.

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Obama, in his recently published memoir, said that the Congress leader appeared to be like a student eager to impress the teacher but lacking aptitude and passion to master the subject. To this, Pawar had backed Gandhi by saying, "I can say anything about the leadership in our country. But I will not talk about leadership in another country. One should maintain that limit...I think Obama crossed that limit."

In an interview with a news channel on Thursday, Pawar commented on Rahul Gandhi's credentials as a national leader, saying that the former Congress chief lacked the consistency required to be accepted as the leader of people. When asked if the country was ready to accept Gandhi as a leader, Pawar said, "There are some questions in this regard. There seems to be less consistency."

READ | Rahul Gandhi Lacks Consistency: Sharad Pawar's Unflattering Assessment Of Congress Leader

Pawar draws flak from Congress

The NCP leader's unflattering assessment of Gandhi drew a sharp response from Congress leaders. Taking a veiled jibe at Sharad Pawar, Maharashtra Minister and Congress leader Yashomati Thakur insisted the allies in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi to stop commenting on the leadership of the Congress party if they wanted a stable government in Maharashtra.

"Our leadership is very strong and stable. The formation of MVA is a result of our strong belief in democratic values... Being a working president of MPCC, I must appeal to colleagues in MVA if you want stable govt in Maharashtra, then stop commenting (on) leadership of Congress. Everybody should follow basic rules of the coalition," Thakur had tweeted. 

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(With inputs from agency)