In a sharp retaliation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s criticism about his “inability” to manage his family, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday wondered as to “when did Modi take care of his own family” and said the condition of the latter's family “is a matter of serious concern”.
Interacting with media persons in Pune, Pawar took a swipe at Modi for the latter’s recent comment made in a television interview that “when Pawar cannot manage his own family, how can he manage Maharashtra?” by saying: “When did Modi manage or take care of his family? I do not want to stoop to that level… The condition of his family is a matter of serious concern. I avoid making personal comments…. But, the Prime Minister does not believe in this…”
On Modi’s another comment that whenever Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray “needs me in any difficulty, I will be the first person to rush towards him to lend help”, Pawar said: “Let us hope and pray when Uddhav is never in such a situation where he would be compelled to seek Modi’s assistance”.
On Modi’s comment on how and why Pawar who criticised him as being “Putin in the making” received the Padma Vibhushan honour from his government, Pawar said: “When we were in the government, we had honoured the leaders from different political parties who had made notable contributions to the country. The awards like Padma are national honours. They do not belong to any political party. The Padma award is not Modi’s personal property. The BJP does not have copyright over these honours”.
Averring that his faith in Modi was waning, Pawar said: “Modi had said many things during his election speeches in the past. But, he has not implemented them. He keeps making casual comments without application of mind. That’s my faith in him going down”.
On the Prime Minister’s criticism of his predecessor about the Dr Manmohan Singh government’s policies in the past, Pawar said: “Modi used to criticise Dr Manmohan Singh’s policies bitterly in the past, but he is implementing the same policies. The speciality of Dr Manmohan Singh used to work quietly without talking about things he was doing and he used to produce results. But, in the case of Modi, he spends a lot of time criticising others. People have begun to understand Modi’s style of functioning”.
Later in the day, while addressing an election rally at Purandar in Pune district for Opposition NCP-Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Supriya Sule from Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, Pawar slammed Modi, saying that Modi was totally different from the best of Prime Ministers like Indira Gandhi, Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh.
“The country has seen many Prime Ministers. I myself have seen many Prime Ministers, worked with some. After independence, we have not seen the work of a prime minister like Jawaharlal Nehru, but we read and learned about his work, he worked to give direction to this country. In his later times a gentleman like Lal Bahadur Shastri became the Prime Minister of the country and created a new history,” he said.
“Subsequently, Indira Gandhi not only worked hard to alleviate the sufferings of the poor but also taught a lesson to Pakistan. After Pakistan’s attack Indira Gandhi retaliated and divided the country into two. After that Pakistan did not rise again. Later we have had prime ministers like Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh with whom I had worked,” Pawar said.
“Among all the Prime Ministers that the country has had, Modi is totally different. Thanks to him, the condition of farmers has become miserable. They are in distress. He has contributed to high inflation in the country,” Pawar said.
Pawar --whom Modi had criticised at his election rally at Madha in western Maharashtra early this week saying that the NCP chief had miserably failed as the Union Agriculture Minister – charged that the current Prime Minister had badly managed Agriculture in the country.
“When we were in power, the management of agriculture was in the hands of our people. After 10 years of Mr. Modi's arrival, the management of agriculture is in the hands of BJP. When I was in charge of agriculture, we increased the procurement rate of paddy by Rs 138 per quintal, and during Modi's tenure, it was increased by Rs 66 quintal,” Pawar said.
“The procurement price of wheat was increased by Rs 122 per quintal during my tenure, while during Modi Saheb's time it was increased by Rs 62. The procurement price of sugarcane was increased by Rs 187 per quintal during my tenure, while it was increased by Rs 50 during Modi Saheb's tenure,” the NCP chief said
“The procurement price of cotton rose by Rs 114 during my tenure and rose by Rs 78 during BJP's tenure The price of maize increased by Rs 159 during my time, while in 10 years of BJP it was Rs 59 per quintal. I am giving you these comparative figures because the Modi government did not pay adequate remunerative prices to the farmers in the country,” Pawar said.
