Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday said that the post of UPA Chairperson is not the post of Prime Minister nor does Sharad Pawar want to declare himself as the Chairperson of the alliance as there is no such thing yet. His statement came on rumors that Sharad Pawar could be the chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Senior Congress leader said I don't think Sharad Pawar wants to be declared chairperson of alliance
Chidambaram said, "I don't think Sharad Pawar wants to be declared chairperson of UPA." When these parties meet, the leader of the largest party will preside over the meeting. After all, we are not going to choose a Prime Minister. There is no such thing as a UPA chairperson.
On the importance of calling a meeting of the parties involved in the UPA, the former finance minister said that if a coalition meeting is called, it is natural that the Congress leader will preside over the meeting. He also emphasized the importance of UPA and working with allies to strengthen the alliance across the country.
He said that some parties can take initiative to call the UPA meeting and the Congress will join it but if Congress calls the meeting then it is natural and comfortable that the leader of the party will preside over the meeting.
He said that Congress is the strongest among the parties involved in UPA in Parliament. The coalition has nine or ten parties and the largest party in it is the Congress. The Congress has 95 or 100 members in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Recently, Shiv Sena, a Congress ally in Maharashtra, praised Sharad Pawar in his party's mouthpiece Saamana and said that the next chairperson of UPA should be Pawar.