Taking on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and the Pawar clan, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Friday said the greatest achievement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been ending the pervasive dynastic politics.
“I had no schedule in Baramati. But someone spread this canard of a ‘settlement’ over the Baramati seat between Mr. Modi and Mr. Pawar… I have come to dispel such rumours and say that the seat will be won by the BJP by a tremendous margin,” said Mr. Shah, addressing the ‘Vijay Sankalp’ (victory resolution) rally in Baramati, the bastion of the Pawars since the 1990s.
He attacked Mr. Pawar for his claims about developing Baramati and Maharashtra, stating, “Those who practise dynastic politics cannot think beyond their families. They are incapable of thinking of the progress and development of the State.”
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The BJP-Sena ‘Mahayuti’ (alliance) has fielded Kanchan Kul, the wife of Rahul Kul — an MLA from the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha led by Dhangar leader Mahadev Jankar — against Mr. Pawar’s daughter, two-time NCP MP Supriya Sule.
“Sharad Pawar boasts about the development he has done in Maharashtra. But can he give an account of what he has done for this State? All he has done successfully is to master the art of staying in power for the past 50 years,” said the BJP president, stating that Maharashtra had rapidly fallen back in terms of industrial growth in the 15 years that the Congress-NCP was in power in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena leader from Purandar and Maharashtra Minister Vijay Shivtare exhorted voters to end the “Pawar Raj” in Baramati.
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