‘There are many things to be learnt from a person of his experience’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country’s welfare was above party politics, in an attempt to dispel the “media myths” of political undertones to his meeting with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar at Baramati on Saturday as the two leaders batted for agricultural development.

Mr. Modi started his speech with banter: after the meeting, he said, the media would try to compare what they [he and Mr. Pawar] had said during the Maharashtra Assembly election campaign last year and what they were saying now. During the campaign, Mr. Modi had called for ridding Maharashtra’s political scene of Mr. Pawar and his nephew and former Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. And Mr. Pawar had criticised Mr. Modi’s communal agenda and his disproportionate campaigning in Baramati to dislodge the Pawars.

‘Our goal is the same’

“While our political thoughts may be different, our objective is the same: the country’s welfare. It is the beauty of our democracy that we can be from opposing political parties and yet discuss and debate the country’s progress,” Mr. Modi said in an address to farmers. He said there were many things to be learnt from a person of Mr. Pawar’s experience.

Scarcely a month passed when Mr. Pawar and he did not discuss issues of national importance on the phone, Mr. Modi said, adding that debate and dissent were essential for progress. Lauding the ‘Baramati model’ of development, he said Mr. Pawar was instrumental in bringing it to fruition.

Mr. Pawar said he had visited the milk dairy at Anand four years ago at the invitation of Mr. Modi, who was Gujarat Chief Minister then, and he reciprocated the invitation.

He expressed concern at the state of the sugar industry in Maharashtra and urged Mr. Modi to ease restrictions on sugar export. Mr. Pawar reiterated NCP’s support for the contentious issue of reservation for Dhangar, a community of shepherds, and requested the Prime Minister to consider the demand.