Sharad Pawar, speaking at a campaign rally for a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate in Maharashtra’s Amravati district, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of criticizing others instead of discussing his government’s accomplishments. Pawar praised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s contributions to the nation and expressed concern about the possibility of autocracy taking hold in India.
In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024, a high-profile poll battle is unfolding in the Amravati constituency, where the BJP has nominated Navneet Rana, the current MP who won as an Independent candidate in 2019, against Balwant Wankhede of the Congress.
Pawar alleged that PM Modi was attempting to instill fear and emulating Russian President Vladimir Putin. He admitted his mistake in supporting Rana in the 2019 elections and apologized to the people of Amravati.
“In the last elections, I had sought the support of people and made an appeal (to elect Rana). People elected the candidate I had appealed for. Time has come to amend that mistake,” he said.
Balwant Wankhede of the Congress is running as the candidate for the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), and Congress.
“After Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, I saw the working of almost all PMs ranging from Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Narasimha Rao to Manmohan Singh. Their efforts were to make a new India, but the incumbent PM only criticizes,” Pawar said.
He emphasized that Jawaharlal Nehru’s contributions are unforgettable, yet the current Prime Minister continues to criticize him. “Instead of telling what the Central government did in the last ten years, he (Modi) keeps criticizing others,” Pawar added.
“We fear that a new Putin is in the making in India,” he warned. He urged the people to support him in his efforts to protect the national interest in collaboration with the Congress and the NCP, as they have done in the past.
