MumbaiAhead of the Kasba Peth and Chinchwad assembly bypolls in Pune district, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party communalises political discourse when it is not sure of victory. Talking to reporters here, the senior NCP leader said it was not new for the BJP to divert attention to communal issues if it was not sure of victory.
The bypolls to Kasba Peth and Chinchwad constituencies, to be held on February 26, were necessitated by the demise of BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap, respectively. In Kasba Peth, Congress’s Ravindra Dhangekar is up against BJP’s Hemant Rasane, while NCP’s Nana Kate will take on the saffron party’s Ashwini Jagtap in Chinchwad.
Dhangekar and Kate are supported by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes the Uddhav Thackeray camp, the Congress and the NCP. Pawar alleged that the Eknath Shinde-BJP ruling alliance was spending huge money on the bypolls.
Asked about BJP leaders’ comments that he wanted an alliance with the saffron party but not Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister, the veteran politician said, “I don’t think everyone in the BJP likes that.” I don’t think they want me in their alliance. That’s why all the statements being made about me by BJP leaders are childish.
The NCP chief said the claims about his role in the short-lived government of Ajit Pawar and Fadnavis in 2019 are an attempt by the government to divert attention as there is nothing to show in terms of development.
Responding to allegations of making communal statements during his party’s campaign for the bypolls, Pawar said, “What is wrong in appealing to voters to come out and vote where they are.” It is okay to object if non-voters are asked to come and vote. He said that objecting to such speech is like giving it a communal colour.