Pawar’s attack on the BJP comes close on the heels of speculations that Ajit has been demanding that the party should dump the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition and join hands with the BJP.
Mumbai, India – Feb. 13, 2020: Ahead of civic elections in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is set to chair and address a meeting of office workers and bearers for the party’s one-day convention in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, February 13, 2020. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)
Mumbai: In the backdrop of speculations about his rift with nephew Ajit Pawar over joining hands with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday hardened his stand against the central government attacking it over the death of jawans in Pulwama terror attack and the acquittal of the accused in the Naroda Gam riots case in Gujarat.
Pawar also slammed the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state over the death of 14 people during Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony in Kharghar on April 16 and supported Ajit’s demand for a judicial probe into the incident.
Addressing a Mumbai NCP party workers function in Ghatkopar, Pawar alleged that 40 jawans died in Pulwama due to the carelessness on the part of the central government.
“BJP leader and former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satyapal Malik, in an interview, disclosed that 40 jawans died in Pulwama due to the carelessness on the part of the central government but no one is speaking about it. Suppression of voice is the agenda of the central government. They don’t want people to know the truth about any issue,” alleged Pawar. It is the first time Pawar has spoken on the Pulwama incident since Malik talked about it in his interview.
“Malik was asked not to speak about the issue. When jawans, who go to Kashmir for the defence of the country, get killed, no probe is conducted. It shows that the steps the government is taking are not in the interest of the country,” he remarked.
Pawar’s attack on the BJP comes close on the heels of speculations that Ajit has been demanding that the party should dump the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition and join hands with the BJP.
There have also been speculations that Ajit is mobilising party MLAs for the same though he denied any such plans and even vowed to be in the NCP “till his last breath”.
On Thursday, industrialist Gautam Adani called on Pawar at his Mumbai residence which led to further speculations. Pawar, on Friday, chose the party platform to send a message to the cadre that he was not in a mood to befriend the BJP.
He also targetted the BJP over acquittal of the accused in Gujarat’s Naroda Gam riots case.
“In Naroda riots, people were killed but the accused were acquitted. Those who were arrested included a minister. It appears that the power was misused,” he alleged.
He also held the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government in the state responsible for the death of 14 people due to heatstroke at the Maharashtra Bhushan award ceremony. He also endorsed Ajit’s demand for judicial probe into the incident instead of a one-member committee appointed by chief minister Shinde under Nitin Kareer, additional chief secretary.
“Award function was organised by the state government and not by the organisation of Dr Appasaheb Dharmadhikari. So, the state government is responsible for the deaths of 14 followers of Dharmadhikari after the function.
“Though the additional chief secretary is known as an efficient and honest officer, he cannot conduct inquiries of his bosses. So, we demand inquiry should be conducted by a sitting high court judge,” said Pawar. He also alleged that the state government wanted to take political benefit by gathering huge crowds and using the large following of Dharmadhikari, but innocent people paid the price with their lives for the politics of the ruling alliance.
Alleging that the central agencies like Enforcement Directorate (ED) were being used to target the Opposition leaders, Pawar said the BJP regime wants to demoralise the opposition in the country. He appealed the NCP workers to get ready to fight the BJP.
“We have to be alert and awaken. We would have to fight against such a tendency.
The nation and state should follow us otherwise, voices of decent would be suppressed, and the opponents would be sent to jail. It is the working style of the BJP regime. We should be ready to pay any price, but we would fight against the BJP,” he said.
He added that nowadays, every household even in rural areas knows about the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) due to the misuse of these agencies against various leaders from opposition parties. Pawar cited examples of Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh to drive home his point. He added that the party has to stand with the people who are targeted by the rulers through agencies.
Pawar urged party workers to strengthen the party network at every booth in Mumbai as a part of the preparation for upcoming elections.
NCP leaders, who spoke on the occasion, favoured an electoral alliance with Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena for the Mumbai civic polls.
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