BJP may emerge as single largest party, but Modi won't be next PM: Sharad Pawar

New Delhi, Mar 12: A day after Sharad Pawar said that he will not be contesting the upcoming general elections, the NCP chief on Tuesday said that Narendra Modi will not become the next Prime Minister of India.

Pawar said that the BJP will not get a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. He said that teh BJP would need the help of other parties to form a government in which case "they will have to look for a new PM".

"From what I can understand a little about politics, I can say that I don't think Modi ji will be the Prime Minister after these elections. I am not an astrologer but I think that they will not get the required number of seats," he said, as per news agency ANI.

"I think BJP will not get a clear majority, they will get less number.of seats. They might be the single largest party. After being the single largest party, they won't have a desired PM. They will have to seek other parties help and if that happens they willl have to look for a new PM," he added.

Last week, Sharad Pawar had held a meeting with the top leaders of his party to chalk out the election strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The names of probable candidates, including those for the Aurangabad and Nagar seats, were also discussed during the meeting.

Congress party and National Congress Party (NCP) have reached a consensus on December 24 sharing 40 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. However, his decision to not contest elections was not clear then.

He previously served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on three separate occasions and held the posts of Minister of Defence and Minister of Agriculture in the Government of India. Pawar hails from the town of Baramati in the Pune district of Maharashtra. He is a member of the Rajya Sabha where he leads the NCP delegation. He holds a position of prominence in national politics as well as the regional politics of Maharashtra.