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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Narendra Modi attacks Sharad Pawar, silent on Shiv Sena
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Narendra Modi attacks Sharad Pawar, silent on Shiv Sena

Prime Minister says his respect for Bal Thackeray desists him from attacking the Shiv Sena

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Modi said NCP chief Sharad Pawar cannot imbibe any of the qualities of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji. Photo: AFPPremium
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Modi said NCP chief Sharad Pawar cannot imbibe any of the qualities of Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji. Photo: AFP

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday defended his silence over estranged ally Shiv Sena in the weekend’s campaign speeches for the Maharashtra assembly elections, saying he kept quiet “out of love and respect" for the party’s late founder Bal Thackeray.

“I will not speak a word against Sena in my speeches due to my love and respect for Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray," Modi said on Sunday. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena parted ways last month to end a 25-year-old political alliance after failing to agree to a seat-sharing arrangement for the 15 October assembly elections,

Addressing a campaign rally at Tasgaon in Sangli district, from where state home minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) veteran R.R. Patil is seeking re-election, Modi said, “This morning when I read newspapers, I was amused to see media pundits expressing their astonishment over my silence about Shiv Sena, but this is the first election after Balasaheb’s demise and I don’t want to take advantage of him not being present at the scene." Bal Thackeray died in November 2012.

“Balasaheb built Sena single-handedly and while doing so he faced severe criticism from people across the country but Balasaheb stood by his beliefs and because of which I have utmost respect for him, so I will not utter a word about Sena in my campaign meetings."

Shiv Sena chief and Balasaheb’s son Uddhav Thackeray on 27 September blamed the BJP for the collapse of the alliance and told Modi that the late Shiv Sena founder had stood behind the then Gujarat chief minister amid calls for his removal over the 2002 religious riots in the state.

In an intended snub to Modi and his Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign launched on 2 October, Sena activists cleaned up the venue of Modi’s Saturday rally in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Modi launched an attack on NCP chief Sharad Pawar over his comments about Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji “plundering" the treasury of Surat.

“Pawar’s statement has hurt me deeply. You (Pawar) don’t have knowledge and understanding of history. Gujarat was part of Bombay presidency and later Bombay state prior to the separation of both the states in 1960, so we share joint history and past."

“I want to ask Pawar: you speak of Shivaji but it was the (BJP-led) Atal Bihari Vajpayee government which named the Mumbai airport after Shivaji. You (Pawar) were Maharashtra’s chief minister, but did not think of it. Even Victoria Terminus was named as Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by the Vajpayee government," the PM said.

“There is no chance of you getting Shivaji’s qualities in your character. But as (Union) agriculture minister, had you implemented Shivaji’s water management techniques, farmers of Maharashtra would not have committed suicides", Modi added.

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Published: 05 Oct 2014, 05:07 PM IST
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