Taking a pot shot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to attend Ram Mandir’s foundation stone-laying ceremony likely to be held at Ayodhya on August 5, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that Modi should get priorities right and that “if he (PM) thinks he can bring coronavirus situation under control by performing the bhoomi Puja for Ram Mandir, he is free to do so”.
Talking to media persons after reviewing the Covid-19 situation at Solapur in western Maharashtra, Pawar said: “Coronavirus is a very big crisis that the country is facing. The Centre and state governments should come together to defeat the Covid-19 challenge”
“One has to decide as to what should be the priority whether to fight Coronavirus or associate oneself with a religious activity. But, if some people think that by building Ram Mandir, the pandemic situation can be brought under control, please go ahead and perform bhoomi puja for Ram Mandir,” Pawar said..
The NCP chief said that the people and the country had suffered huge losses because of the lockdowns imposed by the Centre to fight the coronavirus. “To bring the Covid 19 situation under control, the Centre imposed lockdown in the country. As a consequence, the people and also the country have suffered and continue to suffer losses. The Centre and the state governments should take serious cognisance of the worsened economic situation in the country”.
Making no bones about his disapproval over the Prime Minister’s decision to associate himself with the Ram Mandir foundation stone-laying ceremony amid Coronavirus crisis, Pawar said: “The Government should get its priorities right. The Centre and state government take immediate measures to arrest the worsening economic situation. Our party MPs will raise this issue in the national capital”.