NEW DELHI: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday claimed Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule could get a berth in the Union Cabinet during its next expansion if her party joins the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).“It would be a matter of joy if Sule joined the NDA. We would welcome her if she joins the alliance. She could be considered for a berth in the next Cabinet expansion,” the minister, whose Republican Party of India (RPI) is an NDA constituent, told reporters in Thane.Athawale also said that NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, Sule’s father, could have become President of India had he joined the ruling alliance in 2019. He also pointed to the “good relations” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pawar.“ Ajit Pawar had appealed to Sharad Pawar to join the NDA, but he did not accept the offer,” Athawale added, referring to Sharad Pawar’s nephew Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash in January.In July 2023, Ajit Pawar split the then undivided NCP and joined the NDA. The Election Commission subsequently recognised Ajit’s faction as the “real” NCP, while the Sharad Pawar-led faction was allotted the name Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
At the time of Ajit Pawar’s death, the two NCP factions were reportedly close to a merger, but the process was subsequently put on hold.Meanwhile, amid the ongoing debate over electronic voting machines (EVMs), Athawale expressed no objection to elections being conducted using ballot papers. Questioning the opposition’s criticism of EVMs, he pointed out that the machines were not introduced by PM Modi.He further stated that if the NDA failed to win the 2029 general elections, it would congratulate Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and accept the people’s “verdict … without blaming EVMs”.Athawale also expressed hope that drought-hit farmers in Maharashtra would receive financial assistance before Diwali.The Union minister further urged the Thane police to conduct an impartial probe into the murder of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Pradeep Purnekar, emphasising that no injustice should be done in the matter.(With PTI inputs)