Work for BJP’S defeat, says Pawar
ATTACK NCP chief flays BJP govt for unemployment, inflation; targets Modi over PNB fraud
MUMBAI: A week after Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, in an interview in Pune, cleared his intentions of forming an alliance with the Congress, he participated in a ‘Halla Bol Andolan’ against the BJP in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Pawar said people had grown tired of the BJP government and wanted the “bad days” back, taking a jibe at the phrase ‘Achhe Din’ coined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 general elections campaign.
“The BJP government has failed on every front. Inflation is on the rise and so is unemployment. People are losing their jobs. The law and order situation is worsening every day. Women are not safe anymore. Common people are fed up of the BJP government and are demanding their ‘Bure Din’ (bad days) back.
“The situation can be changed with a change in the government. The NCP has started this agitation to create awareness among people and unite them,” said Pawar, while addressing the rally at Azad Maidan.
Targeting Modi over the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, he said, “PM Modi had promised corruption-free India by saying “na khaunga na khane dunga” (Neither will I indulge in corrup- tion nor will I let others do so). But Nirav Modi has fled to the US and our government is unable to arrest him. At the same time, the government has changed its policy of helping and rehabilitating the small industries that are in serious trouble.”
The Andolan is part of the NCP’S statewide agitation against the Bjp-led government over issues such as the agrarian crisis and unemployment.
The first and second legs of the protest were held over three months in Vidarbha and Marathwada. The third leg of the Halla Bol Andolan ended in Jalgaon, north Maharashtra, on February 21. In the next phase, starting April, the NCP plans to hold protests in western Maharashtra and Konkan, after the budget session of the state legislature is over, said Sunil Tatkare, state NCP president.
The party leadership has faced criticism for its cordial relations with the BJP leadership. In the past, it had extended unsolicited support to the BJP to stabilise its government in the state after the saffron party failed to win a majority in the 2014 assembly elections.
However, as the assembly polls draw closer, Pawar has been distancing himself from the BJP and trying to revive relations with Congress and its chief Rahul Gandhi.