Exclusive: Sharad Pawar On Convincing Sonia & Forgiving Nephew Ajit

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar is the principal architect of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance in Maharashtra.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar in an exclusive conversation with ABP News' Pankaj Jha.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday revealed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was not keen to partner with Shiv Sena, a stridently right-wing Hindu party, in the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. By bringing ideologically disparate Sena and the Congress in the three-way alliance, Sharad Pawar has brought himself back to the centre stage of Maharashtra politics. In his first interview after forming the government in Maharashtra, Pawar told exclusively to ABP News that Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi gave an imperceptible nod only on his and her party MLAs’ insistence. "I cited her numerous instances one of which was during Emergency when no party other than the Shiv Sena supported Indira Gandhi. I told Sonia ji it was important to ally with Shiv Sena to keep BJP away". After Sonia, Pawar disclosed that the next tough task was to make Uddhav Thackeray take up the CM’s post as he seemed reluctant. “Only after our persuasion he (Uddhav) agreed to become the chief minister”. Queried on whether Shiv Sena would be a part of the United Progressive Alliance, the 78-year-old said “No" and said the alliance has been formed only keeping Maharashtra in mind. Watch Sharad Pawar's full interview here: Considered as the original strongman of Maharashtra politics & widely regarded for his political acumen & networking skills, Pawar said he wouldn’t mind to play a key role in strengthening the opposition at a national level. The septuagenarian said he shared a cordial relation with PM Narendra Modi and it’s been such since the latter was the chief minister of Gujarat, a state bordering Maharashtra. When asked whether he is miffed with his nephew Ajit Pawar who had furtively teamed up with BJP on November 23 to form the Maharashtra government, Pawar said “I have forgiven him”. To a question on whether Ajit Pawar will be made the Deputy CM, he said, “we will decide that in the coming days”. Senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh on Monday demanded a reprobe in Justice Loya's death, regarding which Pawar said “A lot of people in Maharashtra want an in-depth investigation into the case. Only if required we will reinvestigate the matter”.