Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday addressed a public rally and asserted that the people of Maharashtra will not “succumb to undemocratic forces”.
His rally comes a day after his nephew and former Leader of Opposition of the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government and was sworn-in as the deputy Chief Minister.
Pawar, addressing NCP workers and supporters in Karad, said “some of our people fell prey to BJP’s tactics to break other parties.”
“Attempts are being made to create communal divide in Maharashtra and the country. We need to fight forces that create fear among peace-loving citizens,” he said. “We need to protect democracy in the country,” he added.
Pawar further said, “Today, in Maharashtra and the country, a rift is being created between the society in the name of caste and religion by some groups… My fight is against communal forces, I will rebuild the party.”
The 82-year-old leader, who quipped at a press conference on Sunday that he will remain the “face of NCP”, visited the memorial of his mentor and Maharashtra’s first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan in Karad and paid floral tributes to him.
His visit to late Chavan’s memorial ‘Pritisangam’ on the occasion of Guru Purnima is being seen as a show of strength by him. Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan, who hails from Karad, was also present.