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‘Contradictory’: Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana’s rare criticism of Sharad Pawar
The Saamana editorial on Sharad Pawar’s decision also recalled a quote by Lokmanya Tilak : “To become the leader of people, a person needs to give up selfishness and his conduct should be good”
MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ on Tuesday sharply criticised Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar for his decision to attend an event in Pune where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was felicitated, saying Maharashtra would have lauded Sharad Pawar if he stayed away from the event to protest “dictatorial policies” of the prime minister.
The Saamana editorial on Sharad Pawar’s decision also recalled a quote by Lokmanya Tilak to take a stinging swipe at the 82-year-old leader: “To become the leader of people, a person needs to give up selfishness and his conduct should be good”.
The editorial said people had “different expectations” from a leader such as NCP chief Sharad Pawar at a time the country was fighting what it described as the “second freedom struggle”.
It is contradictory when the leader shares the dais with PM Modi and NCP workers hold protests against the PM. “A few days back, PM Modi levelled corruption charges, then split the same party and accommodated its leaders in the Maharashtra government. Therefore, some people did not like Sharad Pawar’s decision to attend the function,” the editorial added.
Pawar had the opportunity to clear doubts about him by not attending the function “but he chose to attend the event,” it said, stressing that Pawar would have been lauded by the entire state if he absented himself from the event.
The editorial reflected the discomfort in the opposition camp over Sharad Pawar’s decision to be present on the dais at the Lokmanya Tilak National Award ceremony in Pune on Tuesday. According to news agency PTI, PM Modi and Sharad Pawar “were seen exchanging jovial banter, with Pawar patting Modi’s back” before the event started. But Pawar was not the only opposition leader on the dais. Also present was Congress leader and former Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who were also present, shook hands with Sharad Pawar but Pawar’s estranged nephew and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and walked past his uncle.
To be sure, Pawar did take a dig at PM Modi in his speech at the event, saying that “Shivaji Maharaj never snatched anyone’s land.” The remarks are being seen as Pawar’s dig over BJP allegedly orchestrating splits in Shiv Sena and NCP, according to PTI.
