Sharad Pawar should join NDA, will be rewarded: Union minister

Squarely blaming the Shiv Sena for the dramatic turn of events in Maharashtra, Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Saturday urged NCP chief Sharad Pawar to walk over to the NDA camp, hinting that he might be rewarded with a plum portfolio at the Centre. He said Pawar should also consider backing his rebellious nephew Ajit Pawar - sworn in as the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.

"Sharad Pawar, too, should consider revising his stance and joining the NDA. He may get some good portfolio at the Centre," Athawale said when asked about the difficulty the NCP faction headed by Ajit Pawar might face in engineering a split before the floor test on November 30. Athawale, who heads the RPI a Maharasthra-based pro-Dalit outfit was here to attend a function in his capacity as the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment in the Narendra Modi government.

The month-long political impasse in Maharashtra ended dramatically on Saturday with the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Fadnavis returning as the chief minister, backed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari administered the oath to Fadnavis and Pawar at the Raj Bhavan in Mumbai around 7.30 am.

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