In no let-up in his vehement criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said on Thursday that while Modi spoke repeatedly about providing a stable Government, the ruling BJP was busy toppling the duly-elected Governments in Opposition-ruled States.
A day after he took a dig at Modi for his claim that he would return as Prime Minister after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Pawar said that Modi’s assertion of providing a stable Government sounded hollow in the face of the efforts by the BJP to destabilise Governments in Opposition-ruled States in the country.
Addressing a public rally at Beed in Marathwada region, Pawar said, “You talk of providing a stable Government but topple the duly-elected Governments in States”
To buttress his point, Pawar cited the examples of the BJP toppling Opposition Governments in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and also the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA Government in Maharashtra.
The NCP chief had said, “During his speech, Modi spoke for five minutes about Manipur but spoke about other things for two hours. Modi did not think it was essential for him to go to Manipur to interact with the people there. He is busy preparing for the elections... People are taking out morchas in Manipur. The Modi Government is merely watching. That being the case, the public mood in the country is turning against the Modi Government.”
Pawar said, “These days, the rulers are not concerned about the welfare of people. They are making efforts to drive a wedge in society. The prices of essential commodities have gone up. The Government is not bothered about farmers. Women are being beaten and paraded naked on the streets. And the BJP is sitting quiet.”
Pawar, who has launched a campaign to reach out to people after Ajit Pawar rebelled against him, walked out of the party with 40-odd MLAs and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and BJP Government in the State on July 2, took a pot shot at his nephew for lack of gratitude.
“You (Ajit Pawar) talk about my age. You do not know much about me. You were more interested in acquiring power. At least you should have some gratitude towards people from whom you have got so much. If you do not do that, people will not rest till they teach a lesson to you,” the Senior Pawar said, expressing his displeasure about the manner in which his nephew chose to deal with him.
Slamming Eknath Shinde over 18 deaths in 24 hours in a municipal hospital in Shinde’s home city of Thane, Pawar said: “So many deaths took place at a hospital in Shinde’s home city. When people go to hospitals, they should get medical support and not die... I want to hear Shinde’s stand on the deaths in Thane hospital”.
In Wednesday’s public rally, Sr Pawar had ridiculed Modi for his remark made at his Independence day speech that he would return as Prime Minister after the 2024 Lok Sabha, by likening the statement to senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’ much-discussed statement “Me Punha Yain, Me Punha Yain” made repeatedly at public rallies in the run-up to the 2019 State Assembly polls that he would return as the chief minister of the state.
“The situation prevailing in the country is not favourable for Modi. Modi may say any number of times that he would return as the Prime Minister after the 2024 polls, but he would find himself in the situation like Fadnavis did after the 2019 State Assembly polls,” Sr Pawar said.