Pawar has been politically assassinated, says BJP leader

BJP leaders launch scathing attack on Sharad Pawar at Markadwadi meeting, call the NCP (SP) chief a 'cunning wolf'

- Faisal Malik

MUMBAI: Only days after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the political discourse in Maharashtra is deteriorating and needs to be restored, two politicians from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used harsh and offensive language to attack Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Sharad Pawar. Their attack on the senior politician has drawn criticism even from their political allies.

At a public meeting organised by the BJP in Markadwadi village, in Solapur district, in support of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the politicians called Pawar a "cunning wolf", "untrustworthy" and a "betrayer". They also claimed the BJP had "committed his political murder" in the recent assembly elections.

It was the first time leaders of the ruling Mahayuti coalition visited Markadwadi, which has become a symbol of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi's campaign against the alleged manipulation of EVMs in the recent state elections. The MVA launched its campaign in Markadwadi, which falls under the Malshiras assembly segment, by demanding a mock re-election via ballot paper on December 3.

On Tuesday's meet, organised by the BJP to counter the MVA's narrative, newly elected BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar said of Pawar, "Ask your daughter (Supriya Sule), grand-nephew (Rohit Pawar) and Jayant Patil (NCP leader) to resign from the position before opposing the EVM. Patil, who had come to Markadwadi a few days, is also 'neech' (despicable) and 'jaatiwadi' (casteist) like Pawar," Padalkar alleged, during his address.

He didn't stop there. "I know that Sharad Pawar has hijacked sugar factories, Rayat Shikshan Sanstha, spinning mill and the Yashwatrao Chavan Pratishthan but this 'labaad' (cunning) 'landga' (wolf) is trying to hijack the movement of Markadwadi, which surprised me," said Padalkar, a first-time MLA from the Jat assembly constituency in Sangli district.