Do not forget who has made you, Pawar taunts nephew

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar criticized the rebel faction led by Ajit Pawar, saying they shouldn't forget those who supported them. He also slammed the ruling BJP, saying it was time to rein in inappropriate people. Pawar's remarks were made during his Swabhiman Rally in Beed, Maharashtra. He emphasized the power of the electorate and stated that people know which button to push to show the rebels their place. Pawar is currently on a statewide tour to rebuild his party following the split led by Ajit Pawar. He plans to hold rallies in Jalgaon, Pune, and Kolhapur.

MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday once again flayed the rebel NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar, saying that its members should not forget those who had “made” them. Declaring that the electorate would show the deserters their place, he also slammed the ruling BJP, declaring that the time had come to rein in inappropriate people. The remarks were made by Pawar during his Swabhiman Rally in Beed.

This was the second consecutive day that Pawar targeted the rebels, the BJP and prime minister Narendra Modi. His statements were seen as another attempt to emphasise that he had not changed his stand after his “secret” meeting with Ajit in Pune last Saturday, which had disturbed the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), his Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi allies. (ANI)

“Run after power but at least show some humanity towards those because of whom you have come up in life. If you don’t do this, the people will teach you a lesson,” said Pawar, coming down hard on the NCP rebel faction led by his nephew Ajit.

This was the second consecutive day that Pawar targeted the rebels, the BJP and prime minister Narendra Modi. His statements were seen as another attempt to emphasise that he had not changed his stand after his “secret” meeting with Ajit in Pune last Saturday, which had disturbed the Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), his Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi allies.

“My complaint is that the people elected you (in the 2019 assembly elections) against the BJP. Now you are sitting with the same BJP against whom we were in power (in the MVA government),” the former union minister said, and warned, “Tomorrow when people again get a chance to vote, they know which button needs to be pushed to show you your place.”

Pawar, through his speech, underscored the power of the electorate. “Don’t underestimate people power,” he said. “We know what happens when people become united, and we have seen many leaders getting defeated in the past.”

With the Beed rally, Pawar has begun his statewide tour to rebuild his party following a vertical split in it led by Ajit Pawar who recently joined the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and BJP government as deputy chief minister. Ajit has managed to get a majority of NCP MLAs on his side and has also staked a claim to the NCP’s name and election symbol before the Election Commission.

On Thursday, Pawar reiterated that he still had the ability to rebuild the party on his own. With this aim, his next rally will be held in Jalgaon on September 4, after which he is likely to hold rallies in Pune and Kolhapur. His statewide tour had started with a rally in Yeola, Nashik, but he took a break following heavy rains and the monsoon session of Parliament which concluded on August 11.

The rally in Beed was also a show of strength for Pawar. The veteran leader entered the district with a cavalcade of 700 vehicles, and JCB machines were employed to shower flowers on him and his convoy. Leaving Aurangabad at around 9 am, he reached Beed by afternoon, with profuse welcomes by people and supporters on the way. Pawar met many old leaders in order to refresh his old connections in central Maharashtra.

In his speech, the NCP chief trained his guns on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not visiting Manipur, which has been facing ethnic violence for more than three months now, and reiterated how the Modi government was misusing its powers. “You talk about a stable government and then pull down elected state governments. It is time to rein in those behaving improperly and misusing government powers,” the 82-year-old leader said.

Pawar’s rally was also a show of young leaders, who were not only given a chance to be on the dais but also allowed to address the gathering. He praised Beed MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar, who is still loyal to him, and told the gathering, “His grandmother Kesharbai Kshirsagar stood with the then chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan when many of his MLAs rebelled against him. I am happy to see that her grandson is repeating history today.”

NCP MLAs such as Anil Deshmukh, Jitendra Awhad, Rajesh Tope, Sunil Bhusara, Rohit Pawar, Sandeep Kshirsagar were present at the rally along with state NCP president Jayant Patil.

Sanjay Tatkare, spokesperson of the rebel NCP faction, emphasized that they have deep respect for Pawar. “Ajit Dada (Pawar) and all the NCP ministers have Pawar saheb’s pictures in their cabins even today. We hold him in very high esteem. We have and will always consider him as our ‘Daivat’ (deity). So the question of disrespecting him doesn’t arise. If he is hurt by any statement given by anyone, we will always apologize for it,” Tatkare said in response to Pawar’s remarks.

Responding to the allegations made on PM Modi and BJP, Madhav Bhandari, vice president, Maharashtra BJP said that the parties have failed to keep their flock united and are now blaming them. “All the respective state governments faced internal disputes, leading to their decline. BJP cannot be held responsible for these internal conflicts. Instead of addressing their own challenges, they’re choosing to shift blame onto us,” Bhandari said.