Sharad Pawar: Nehru family has made a significant contribution to the Congress history

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar tonight steered clear of comments on the events that led to his parting of ways with the Congress saying it would lead to suspicion that he wanted to rock the UPA boat.

Pawar also said the next decade or so would be dominated by coalition politics and it was imperative for cultivating a mindset in which political differences are not treated as personal hatred.

Releasing a book on the Congress, he said that though the Nehru family has made a significant contribution to the Congress history, there were also others who have contributed to the freedom struggle and the history of Independence in is a testimony to it.

"There are many sequence of events mentioned in the book on which there could be differences. But it will not be proper if I speak of these differences today. I want the UPA government to run smoothly," Pawar said.

He said he was removed from the Congress for six years and after that he chose to stay out. Pawar parted ways with the Congress in 1999 on the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi.

He said such situations were not new for the party and even Subhas chandra Bose had to resign from the post of Congress President when Mahatma Gandhi was unhappy over his election to the top party post.

Pawar said the people of the country were more sensible than the political class and it does not seem that for the next 10-15 years any one political party could gain majority and those who secure 160-180 seats would form the government like Atal Behari Vajpayee did earlier and Manmohan Singh did now.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde recalled the sacrifices made by the Nehru-Gandhi family, which he said the new generation was not aware of. "I am pained when people talk about dynasty.

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