Fadnavis needles Pawar�s 1978 'feat'; the wily Maratha calls him an 'ignoramus'

Mumbai, June 26 (IANS) Attempting to defend ruling Shiv Sena Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, ally Bharatiya Janata Party’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis attempted to poke Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, but ended up with a bloody nose.

Addressing a public meeting in Chandrapur on Sunday night to mark the BJP government’s 9 years at the Centre, Fadnavis grabbed a slice of history to cover Shinde with a cloak of credibility.

Referring to the revolt of Shinde and others in June 2022, Fadnavis drew attention to a similar event in 1978 when Pawar, 38, had toppled the then CM Vasantrao ‘Dada’ Patil to become the state’s youngest CM – a record that he still retains. He went on to become the CM for three more times, an unbeaten achievement.

Harking to this critical 45-year-old piece of history, Fadnavis said Pawar had walked out of the late Patil’s cabinet with 40 MLAs and formed the government with the help of the then Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party group and others, and his regime lasted some 18 months.

“What Pawar did was termed as political statesmanship, but when Shinde did the same, it’s called ‘beimaani’ (dishonesty)… How can that be…?” boomed Fadnavis, attempting to push the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) into a corner.

When asked to comment on this, a relaxed and smiling Pawar said in Pune (on Monday) with a glint that when he had formed the government in 1978, “the then BJP was Jan Sangh” that came with him.

“Fadnavis may have been in primary school at that time. So has no knowledge of that period. He speaks such things out of ignorance, and should not be given much importance,” said Pawar.

Compared with the onslaught, the 83-year-old Pawar’s reply appeared on the dot – in 1978, Fadnavis, 53, was barely 8 years old and actually sitting on a primary school bench when Patil was dethroned..!

Emphasising Fadnavis’ lack of historical knowledge, Pawar elaborated that: “I had formed the government with the support of everyone. The late Uttamrao Patil of the Jana Sangh was also a part of the government along with the late Hashu Advani and others. He (Fadnavis) may have been in primary school at that time so didn’t know anything about that era…”

Incidentally, years later, when Patil was the Governor of Rajasthan, he had anointed Pawar as his ‘political heir’ in 1987.

The NCP supremo also rubbished as ‘childish, lacking political maturity’ - the remarks by certain BJP leaders on the Patna Opposition conclave last week, dismissing it as a meeting of ’19 future PMs’ - and said the post of PM did not even figure at that (July 23) meeting.

Pawar hit out at Fadnavis’ allegations that the OBCs are treated as a showpiece in the NCP, saying that Chhagan Bhujbal was the first NCP state President (after the party was born in 1999).

“He (Fadnavis) remains ignorant of this… I wonder how much reading they have done… They make statements without taking note of all this. But the people are aware of the reality,” declared Pawar.