Kolhapur: Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde on Monday alleged that Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar did not want any party or alliance to get a clear majority in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections so that he could become the Prime Minister.
Addressing a press conference here, Munde said, "Pawar doesn`t want majority for UPA or NDA. He wants the winning alliance to be 8-9 seats short of majority...In such a scenario he can become the Prime Minister. But this dream would never be realised."
He also alleged that Pawar was forcing senior NCP leaders in Maharashtra to contest Lok Sabha elections, so that his nephew Ajit Pawar had no rival in the state politics.
RPI leader Ramdas Athavale was also present at the press conference.
Talking about the sugar industry, Munde said that government should allow sale of petrol mixed with 10 per cent ethanol, increase import duty on sugar to 35 per cent to 40 per cent and subsidise the export. He also said that government should create a buffer stock of sugar.
Fixing the sugarcane price at a low rate was not the solution to the ills of sugar industry in Maharashtra, he said.
