Top leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party vowed on Sunday to esnure that their party chief Sharad Pawar becomes the country's next prime minister.
"The 10 crore people of Maharashtra will vote in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections with the one-point agenda of the
Prime Minister's post," NCP's state unit president R R Patil told a meeting of party workers in Nashik.
"If not now, never," Patil, who quit office as Deputy hief Minister following the 26/11 terror attacks, said.
"If our ally has anyone of Pawar's calibre, then they should declare the name," he added, without naming Congress.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said only Pawar has the "capability to lead the country". Union Minister of State for Rural Development Suryakanta Patil appealed voters not to give the country's leadership to those making politics a "child's play". Only Pawar can lead the country, she said.
Earlier in the day during a press conference, Pawar brushed aside a query on his prime ministerial ambitions,
saying, "One should plan the journey depending on the quantity of petrol available in the vehicle".
