Sanjay Raut, MP from Shiv Sena said on Friday that his party would be happy if Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar becomes the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairman. He said that the Congress is losing strength and hence the opposition needs to come together now. Asserting that the congress which leads the UPA has become politically weak now, Raut suggested that the opposition needs to come together and strengthen the alliance.  This is unsurprising given the recent meeting between Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali dal leaders in the context of forming a possible national front over the backdrop of the farmers’ protests.

Raut said, “We will be happy if Pawar sir becomes UPA chairman. But I have heard that he has personally refused it. We will support him if such a proposal comes to the fore officially. Congress is weak now so the opposition needs to come together and strengthen the UPA.” This comes after the NCP on Thursday termed as baseless, the media speculation that Pawar may head the UPA. NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said that there are unsubstantiated reports in the media regarding Pawar taking over as the chairperson of the UPA.

“The Nationalist Congress Party would like to clarify that there is no discussion within UPA partners regarding any such proposal. The reports appearing in the media seems to have been planted by vested interests to divert the attention from the ongoing farmers’ agitation,” Tapase said.

A senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister said that he had asked around in the party about this speculation. “Nobody has any inkling about this,” he said.

This development comes close after the jibe taken by Sanjay Raut at a BJP leader for suggesting the involvement of China and Pakistan in the farmers’ protests.

A day after Union minister Raosaheb Danve blamed China and Pakistan for the ongoing protests by farmers, Sanjay Raut had taken a swipe at him saying that Defence Minister should immediately “conduct a surgical strike” on the two neighbouring countries.

“If a Union minister has information that China and Pakistan have a hand behind farmers’ agitation, then, the Defence Minister should immediately conduct a surgical strike on China and Pakistan,” said the Shiv Sena leader.

Raut had also further said that the President, Prime Minister, Home Minister and chiefs of the Armed Forces should discuss this issue seriously.