Beed, August 17:  Nationalist Congress Party Patriarch Sharad Pawar on Thursday cautioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who asserted he will be back in 2024 to address the nation from the Red Fort, that a similar thing was said by former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis but he "returned to power at a lower post". Addressing a rally in Beed the constituency of key rebel NCP Leader Dhananjay Munde, the NCP chief said, "On 15th August, PM Modi said 'Mi Punha Yein' (I’ll come back again), I want to tell him a similar thing was said by Maharashtra's former CM Devendra Fadnavis, he returned to power but at a lower post."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Tuesday on Independence Day that he will return to power in 2024 and will detail the country's achievements. “The next five years are for unprecedented development. The biggest golden moment to realise the dream of 2047 is the next five years. The next time, on August 15, I will present before you the achievements and developments of the country from this Red Fort,” PM Modi had said.

Sharad Pawar recently shared a stage with the Prime Minister at an award function in Pune. This rally comes even as the NCP and the Congress are engaged in a war of words after a former Congress CM claimed that Ajit Pawar had offered his uncle a position in the Union Cabinet in exchange for his support.

On Wednesday Pawar sought to dispel those allegations saying" Whatever I have said until now, do you think that has been in praise of Narendra Modi? What can I say about any leader who makes unfounded remarks". The Congress' charges came after reports of a 'secret' meeting between Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar the Maharashtra Deputy CM. The congress has questioned the senior Pawar for continuing to meet Ajit Pawar despite the split in the NCP.

Sharad Pawar however said that since Ajit was his nephew the meeting was just between family members and no more should be read into the meeting.

This is the second such rally by the senior Pawar which is aimed at targeting those who split from the NCP. Earlier this month Pawar held a rally in Nashik the constituency of Chaggan Bhujbal another NCP rebel. Pawar is also expected to stage rallys in other constituencies of rebel NCP leaders.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)