Ahead of elections, Sharad Pawar intensifies attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP

He said both the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, its core organisation, wanted to change the Constitution as they did not believe in it

With elections less than a year away, Nationalist Congress party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar intensified his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he did little as the Gujarat chief minister to bring the 2002 riots under control.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar at the national convention of the partys’ women’s wing held at the YB Chavan auditorium in Mumbai, on June 20, 2018. (HT Photo)

“When communal riots took place, Modi was heading the state (Gujarat), now he is heading the country. Instead of taking stern action and punishing people … communal riots were allowed to spread. My colleague and former MP, Ehsan Jafri was also murdered during the riots,” Pawar said on Wednesday, “It’s time to think seriously about changing the regime.”

Pawar, addressing an event — part of a movement called ‘Save Constitution, Save Country— organised by the women’s wing of his party. He said both the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), its core organisation, wanted to change the Constitution as they did not believe in it.

“It is their policy to change the Indian Constitution. Right from Modi to all the other senior leaders of the BJP, follows the ideas of former RSS chief MS Golwalkar who didn’t believe in our Constitution,” he said. “The clarification given by the BJP leaders on the issue is nothing but a farce.”

The NCP chief, who is known for his cordial relations with the BJP top brass (including the prime minister), extended unsolicited support to them to form the state government in 2014, when the BJP had failed to get a majority in the assembly elections.

Pawar is now in serious talks with the Congress for a possible pre-poll alliance ahead of the upcoming polls.