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Pawar questions propriety of PM’s tirade against Oppn leaders, current and former CMs
The PM on Tuesday recounted allegations of corruption against the governments of the opposition parties, which attended the recent meeting in Patna for forging a united front against the BJP
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that prime minister Narendra Modi, who attacked the Opposition, including NCP, over corruption at a programme in Bhopal, should think whether it was appropriate to speak about current and former chief ministers in this way.
The prime minister while speaking in Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday recounted allegations of corruption against the governments of the Opposition parties who met at Patna recently for forging a united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The PM in Bhopal said, “As to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), there are allegations of scams of nearly ₹70,000 crore against it, including the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam, Maharashtra irrigation scam and illegal mining scam. The list is too long.”
“These parties’ (in the Opposition) “scam meter is never down”, the prime minister said, adding that the Opposition’s common minimum programme is to save themselves from action against corruption.
“The PM has presented before the country a new example of how to talk about people,” Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a programme at Pune on Tuesday evening.
“Among those present at the Opposition’s meeting were the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, several former chief ministers, who had the responsibility of governing their respective states and who enjoy people’s support. How appropriate it is to make such statements about (one’s) colleagues? The prime minister should think about it,” he said.
About alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam referred by Modi in his speech, the NCP chief said he was never a member of this bank.
“I am not a member of the bank and have never done any financial or loan-related transactions with it. So how appropriate it is to level an allegation about an institution of which we are not even members?” he said.
He said that there was no reason for the prime minister to mention NCP MP (and Pawar’s daughter) Supriya Sule who too was never a part of any such institution.
“But such statements are made just because some people cannot digest the fact that Opposition leaders came together to discuss the issues plaguing the country,” Pawar said.
The NCP chief also criticised Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and his cabinet’s arrival at Pandharpur saying that if a chief minister from a neighbouring state is coming to offer prayers, there is no need to object.
“But the attempt to show a big strength in terms of number of vehicles (during the visit) was worrisome,” he said, adding that he doesn’t want to comment further on the matter.
He also mentioned that it would have been better if the visit had focused on enhancing cooperation between the two states.
When asked about Bhagirath Bhalke, who joined BRS in the presence of Rao after being the NCP’s candidate in the 2021 Pandharpur assembly by-poll, Pawar said that there is no need to worry if an individual leaves the party.
“After giving the ticket to Bhalke, we realised that our selection was wrong, but I do not want to talk about it,” he said.
In the poll that took place in 2021 after the death of Bharat Bhalke, the NCP fielded his son Bhagirath as its candidate, but the seat was won by the BJP’s Samadhan Autade.
