The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) on Friday hit out at Union Minister Amit Shah and said "fake NCP and fake Shiv Sena" were aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
NCP(SP) spokesperson Mahesh Tapase's comments came a day after Shah tore into the Maha Vikas Aghadi during a rally in Nanded. "There is a pseudo-Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray, pseudo-NCP of Sharad Pawar and a leftover Congress in Maharashtra.
These three parties are like an autorickshaw with mismatching spare parts. How will it ever perform and do anything good for Maharashtra?" Shah had said. Hitting back, Tapase said, "Who is Amit Shah to call us fake? The BJP has inducted fake leaders in the state government."
He said the BJP should be worried since it is meting out step-motherly treatment to workers of the Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions and they are unhappy. He also criticised Shah for questioning the contribution of Sharad Pawar.
"Amit Shah knows coming to Maharashtra and not targeting Sharad Pawar will not create headlines in the media. Hence, Shah chose to target Pawar. Shah is ignorant of the contribution of Sharad Pawar to not just Maharashtra but to the whole nation," Tapase claimed.
The Shiv Sena and NCP split in June 2022 and July 2023, respectively. The factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar are part of the opposition MVA along with the Congress.
