Former Union minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday dismissed Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent comments regarding the BJP’s victory in the Maharashtra Assembly polls. Shah had claimed that the BJP’s win marked the end of “the politics of betrayal and treachery” that Pawar allegedly started in 1978.
Pawar responded to Shah’s remarks by stating, “I was the chief minister in 1978. I am not aware of his whereabouts then,” adding, “When I was the chief minister, there were people like Uttamrao Patil from Jan Sangh in my ministry.” Pawar also pointed out that the office of the Home Minister must maintain decorum, noting the deteriorating state of political communication today.
“There used to be ‘susanvad’ (good communication) between political leaders earlier, but that is missing now,” Pawar remarked, suggesting that the current political environment lacked the cooperative spirit of the past.
Amit Shah, addressing a BJP state-level convention in Shirdi on Sunday, had said, “The victory of BJP in Maharashtra ended the politics of instability and backstabbing started by Sharad Pawar in 1978. You (people) have buried such politics 20 feet in the ground.” Shah’s comments appeared to refer to Pawar’s decision in 1978 to walk out of the Vasantdada Patil-led government with 40 MLAs, leading to his rise as Chief Minister.
In his rebuttal, Pawar also highlighted his career’s broader scope, recalling how despite being in the opposition, he had been appointed Vice-Chairman of the Disaster Management Authority by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee following the Bhuj earthquake.
The exchange between the two leaders has once again brought the spotlight on Maharashtra’s political history and the ongoing political rivalry between the NCP and the BJP. Pawar’s defense of his legacy, as well as his criticism of the current state of political discourse, underscores the deepening divide between the state’s leading political forces.