An Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party legislator (MLC) Gopichand Padalkar sparked a massive row after he said, senior Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar is a “Corona infection of Maharashtra”, on Wednesday, 24 June.
Attacking Pawar, the BJP MLC accused him of playing casteist-cum-divisive politics and said “he is the Coronavirus” which has afflicted the state.
“He (Pawar) has been the head (CM) of the state, but he did only injustice to the Bahujan community. He has no ideology, but ignites small communities to force them to join him and then do injustice,” Padalkar said.
He accused the veteran NCP leader of allegedly denying reservations to the Dhangar community and instead politicizing the issue.
Padalkar’s comments took even the BJP by surprise, coming a day after Leader of Opposition (Assembly) Devendra Fadnavis claimed that the NCP wanted to join hands with the BJP to form the government in the state.