Sharad Pawar’s support to BJP in 2014 to blame for exodus, Shiv Sena editorial states

The Sena made the comments in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ and accused Pawar of engineering the defection of leaders to the NCP.

Taking on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar using “crows” to describe NCP leaders who have quit the party recently, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday said his offering of unconditional support to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the 2014 Assembly election results has led to the current outflow of leaders from the NCP.

The Sena criticised Pawar for backing the BJP after the 2014 state Assembly elections. (HT image)

The Sena made the comments in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ and accused Pawar of engineering the defection of leaders to the NCP.

Responding to the Sena’s comments, the NCP said, “Instead of harping on old issues, the Shiv Sena should worry about its future.”

“The NCP has already clarified that it did not want re-election in 2014, and therefore the support was extended [to the BJP]... The Shiv Sena fears the BJP will make them a secondary entity for the next five years too,” said Nawab Malik, Mumbai NCP chief.

On Sunday, Pawar described NCP leaders who quit the party to join other parties as “crows”. He had said: “We don’t need to worry about crows (kawale) any longer, instead focus on our soldiers (mawale) in the party ahead of the Assembly elections.”

The Sena criticised Pawar for backing the BJP after the 2014 state Assembly elections.

“Even before the election results were announced, it was the NCP crows that extended BJP unconditional support to form the government... Whatever Pawar did in 2014, his party is now facing the consequences of it,” it said. The editorial added that Pawar has “started speaking the language of Shiv Sena” to resurrect his party.