“Those in power at the Centre, I can see how they are misusing power. Any political party which is not favouring the BJP is troubled by them. A few days ago, the EC took a decision. We saw how the organisation is being misused,” Pawar said, while addressing a poll rally at Kasba in Pune. Pawar was campaigning for Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar in Kasba on Wednesday.
“Many issues and complaints have been raised with the EC but I have never seen the election commission take such a decision. Snatching leadership from the chief of a party and giving it to another. The Shiv Sena was born in Maharashtra under the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray. In his last days, he had appealed to his fellow leaders to give the responsibility of the party to Uddhav Thackeray and they agreed. Now, a few people complained to the EC and it decided that the Shiv Sena name and its symbol will go to someone else,” he said.
Recalling a similar situation with the Congress in the past, Pawar said the issue was taken up with the EC and it decided that the ‘Congress (I)’ name and ‘hand’ symbol will remain with Indira Gandhi while the split faction will have a different symbol but both the parties were allowed to use Congress in their names.
“…Many political parties have ruled in the past but there was no attack on the republic structure of the country. Today under Modi’s leadership, the BJP and its leaders want all powers of the country in their hands. Everything should happen as they want and the biggest price of it is that minorities are suffering,” Pawar said.
On the early morning swearing-in of BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis the as Maharashtra’s chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar as his deputy in 2019, Pawar said it had one benefit: it helped lift the President’s rule in the state.
Reacting to his remark, Fadnavis said, “The NCP president should reveal at whose behest the President’s rule was enforced in Maharashtra post-elections.”
A few days ago, Fadnavis had claimed that Pawar was aware of the developments. “The swearing-in ceremony was held after discussion with Sharad Pawar,” he said. —With PTI inputs
