Pawar Says He’s Over 75, Can’t Advise Modi To Retire

The sweet and sour friendship between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NCP leader Sharad Pawar has been vexing political circles for all these years. Neither loses a chance to reiterate its existence nor to take pot shots at each other. But both have maintained a dignified level. On the other hand, the Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) don’t waste a single opportunity to criticise Modi and the BJP. Both these parties had reminded Modi on his 75th birthday that he himself had imposed the age limit for retirement from active politics. Of course, the BJP had soon thereafter clarified that the observation did not apply to Modi. Still, some mediapersons approached Pawar to elicit his comments on the issue, hoping to extract a juicy quote. Pawar being Pawar, he floored them all. He said, “If I myself have not retired, how can I advise anyone to bow out?” Pawar was born on 12 December 1940. Interestingly, there were no further questions. Pawar has disappointed INDIA Bloc and other Opposition parties on many occasions by taking a clear stand on several issues without caring for the possible criticism. For instance, when there was a demand to appoint a JPC to probe the Hindenburg allegations against the Adani Group, Pawar had dismissed the proposal as a non-starter. It is another matter that the industrialist has been a regular caller on Pawar. It is also a coincidence that Pawar’s statement about Modi’s 75th birthday has come on the day Adani has been exonerated by the SEBI of any wrongdoing.