‘Political Agniveers Shinde, Ajit Pawar will be jobless soon’
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and his deputy, Ajit Pawar, are the “political Agniveers” who will be laid o¦ in three months, Congress leader and AICC Maharashtra incharge Ramesh Chennithala says.
“Both Mr. Shinde and Mr. Ajit Pawar, who backstabbed their mentors – Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar – are the ‘political Agniveers’, as their tenure is short-lived without job security akin to the Agniveers recruited [to the armed forces] by the current government. Both leaders will be laid o¦ in the next three months, not by any specic leader or party but by the electorate of Maharashtra,” he said in an interview with The Hindu.
The 67-year-old former Kerala Home Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark, referring to NCP supremo Sharad Pawar as a “wandering soul”, did not sit well with the people of Maharashtra, especially the Maratha community. “He [Mr. Modi] should refrain from such derogatory language, regardless of political di¦erences. Mr. Sharad Pawar is still alive and labelling him a ‘wandering soul’ is disrespectful, especially considering the PM’s previous acknowledgment of him as a political guru. It appears that Mr. Modi is becoming increasingly agitated, possibly due to the realisation that his return to power is uncertain, and is hence making such remarks,” he said.
According to Mr. Chennithala, the political situation in Maharashtra heavily favours the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the coalition comprising the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction, and the Congress. People are waiting for an opportunity to respond to the BJP. Despite the e¦ective governance of the constitutionally elected MVA government under Uddhav Thackeray, the government was toppled by engineering a split in the Shiv Sena founded by the late Balasaheb Thackeray, by using Central agencies, he said.
(For full interview visit: thlink.in/Chennithala)