Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar revealed that he made “a mistake ” in choosing the candidate for the national election in Maharashtra’s Satara. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi bashed the NCP chief for not “having the courage” to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the parliamentary constituency.
PM Modi on Thursday while addressing a rally in Satara said that “They don’t even have the courage to contest even Lok Sabha elections from Satara.” This was directly an attack towards the 80-year-old Congress Party Leader. He blamed the opposition parties in Maharashtra of playing divisive politics after the centre dismissed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir in August.
PM Modi was quoted as stating by news agency PTI “Sharad Rao (Pawar) is Sharad Rao (Pawar). He knows the direction of the wind; that’s why he clearly refused.”
In the national elections held earlier this year, the NCP had fielded Udayanraje Bhosale, Shivaji Maharaj’s descendant, from the Satara parliamentary seat. After Mr Bhosale, who won the election, he quit the party before Maharashtra state elections and joined the BJP, which has fielded him for the by-election.
Revealing an error in judgement, Mr Pawar on Friday stated: “When one makes a mistake, one should admit it. I made a mistake while selecting a candidate for the Lok Sabha poll. I accept this publicly. But I am happy that to correct the mistake, every young and old person in Satara is waiting for October 21.”
He continued his speech despite the torrential rain and said that the rain God has blessed NAC for the upcoming election. He added with the blessing Stara district of Maharastra would create a miracle, and it would start from October 21. This act of his actually helps him gain much praise as he did not stop his speech even after getting drenched.
Netizens praising Mr Pawar and wrote that “Man can be destroyed but not defeated” and added that this would motivate many generations of Maharastra.
On Monday, the Lok Sabha by-election will be held in Satara along with state elections in Maharashtra. Maharastra will have to wait till October 24 to know whether the decision of Mr Shrinivas Patil against Mr Bhosale was apt or not.
