Shinde puts foot in his mouth on Sharad Pawar, later retracts

“There is no reason for (having) two views on this. I have said this many times, even on national platform,” Shinde said.  Pawar has been trying to become PM since 1992, but was a “victim of Delhi politics” he said.

Pawar, who broke away from Congress on the issue of Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin in 1999 to form NCP, has made it clear that he would not contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and instead intends to take the Rajya Sabha route to Parliament.

Later, Shinde clarified that he had spoken about his respect for  Sharad Pawar, but as far as the prime ministerial candidate was  concerned, Rahul Gandhi was his first choice.