In the latest exchange in the ongoing verbal battle between the two parties, Sharad Pawar, the president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was criticised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashish Shelar for his comments on the formation of the Maharashtra government in 2019. Shelar claimed that Pawar's comments revealed his insatiable hunger for power.
Shelar said Pawar’s remarks, made at a press conference in Pune, also prove Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was right in revolting against the Shiv Sena leadership last year, and maintained his party was ready for a public discussion on events surrounding the formation of the short-lived Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government.
The former Union Agriculture minister on Thursday said certain things were done after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections to expose the BJP and show how far it can go to gain power. The veteran politician was responding to questions about BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis’s claim, made during an interview on Wednesday, that Pawar had agreed to form a government with the national party, but backed out at the last moment.
The NCP president said his father-in-law (Test player Sadu Shinde) was a googly bowler, and he himself served as chairman of the ICC (International Cricket Council) and further added, so, without playing cricket, I knew where and when to bowl a googly. We do not believe this is a googly. This is an insatiable hunger for power. After Devendra ji spoke on the issue, half truth has come out. We are ready for a public discussion for this. The remarks of Sharad Pawar prove the revolt of Eknath Shinde was right, Shelar, an MLA, said.