‘Shameful statement’: Sharad Pawar attacks PM Modi over his election speeches

MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his campaign pitch for the Lok Sabha elections, saying that his attacks on one community in his speeches were unacceptable and shameful.
“His statement is shameful as he is the prime minister of the country, who is expected to lead all and ensure everyone’s interest, but he is talking so bad about a community,” 83-year-old Pawar, who heads the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction of the party, told a campaign rally in support of Shiv Sena (UBT) Anant Geete in Raigad late on Tuesday. Geete is running against the incumbent MP and NCP candidate Sunil Tatkare, who shifted his allegiance to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar during the NCP split in July last year.
“Mentioning women and children (of the Muslim community) and asking people if they want to hand over the country’s property to them, is an unfortunate situation that no other leader has brought in the country in the past,” he added.
On Sunday, Modi triggered a row through his remark that the Congress was influenced by urban Naxals and leftists, and that it will take away people’s gold and property, including women’s mangalsutras, to redistribute them.
“When they (Congress) were in power earlier, they said that Muslims have the first right to the country’s resources. So, who will they redistribute resources to? Those who have more children. Those who are infiltrators… The Congress manifesto says they will take stock of the gold owned by our mothers and sisters, and then they will redistribute that wealth. And distribute it to those who, according to the Manmohan Singh government, have the first right on resources — Muslims. This is urban Naxal thinking, and mothers and sisters, they will not even spare your mangalsutra,” Modi said in Banswara in Rajasthan.
To be sure, a clarification from the Prime Minister’s office in 2006 available on the archives showed that the government at the time clarified that Manmohan Singh had said that all underprivileged sections needed to be uplifted and therefore had the first right on resources.
Opposition parties have accused PM Modi of communalising the election campaign, with a Congress delegation meeting the Election Commission of India on Monday to argue that his utterances were a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Speaking at the rally in Tonk on Tuesday, Modi said that the Congress made such attempts in the past, and alleged that the opposition had gone into “meltdown”, because he had exposed the truth.
Pawar said the comments made by PM Modi would increase hatred in the country and it was the government’s responsibility to restore faith among all castes and communities.
“His (PM Modi) behaviour is not in the best interest of the country. We have no other option but to bring a change. He talks in a way which leads to animosity against a community,” Pawar said.