"You say I am old but you don't know me. We have shown in the past that you can empower the community with the help of the people. Many people have been defeated before with the help of the young generation," said Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar at a rally in Maharashtra's Beed, taking a clear jibe at his nephew Ajit Pawar.
The address by Sharad Pawar was followed by a few days of political turmoil in the state following his 'secret' meeting with Ajit Pawar last week and the claims by the Congress party of Ajit having been offered the chief minister's post by Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he gets the NCP supremo to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
After refuting claims of any such offers and assuring Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress that he will not be jumping ship, Sharad Pawar made sure to target the rebels, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and PM Modi in his address in Beed, a stronghold of the NCP the home turf of former party stalwart Dhananjay Munde, who is now with Ajit's faction.
Sharad Pawar, however, kept away from addressing the storm that was created in the past few days over his meeting with Ajit Pawar.
Here are the key highlights of his address:
'I'm Old But...': Sharad Pawar Targets PM Modi, Nephew Ajit in Beed Rally
1. 'You Say I Am Old But...': On Ajit Pawar, Rebel Leaders
Reiterating that age won't stop him from rebuilding his party, Sharad Pawar gave clear indications that he will keep up the fight against nephew Ajit Pawar who last month engineered a vertical split in the party and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in the state.
"I don't know what happened to some leaders in Beed. A leader told me that one of our colleagues has quit the party. I asked what happened suddenly, he was fine till yesterday. He was told that Pawar saheb is old now and if he cares about his future, a new leader should be chosen. You say I am old, but you don't know me," he said taking a jibe at Munde and other rebel leaders in the region.
"I just want to say one thing. You want to go where there's power, feel free. But at least show some humanity towards those who gave you everything to get there. If you don't, people will teach you a lesson," he added.
Targeting leaders of Ajit Pawar's faction, he said that they chose to side with those they defeated in the elections with the help of people.
"You fought elections against the BJP with the help of people, the people chose you, the people made the BJP face defeat against you, you won the election because the BJP was defeated against you, but you are sitting in power with the same BJP today. You can do that today, but when people go to the polling both to cast their votes in the future, the people will know what button to press and put you where," he said.
Expand2. 'You Talk of Stable Governance But...': On BJP
The NCP supremo slammed the BJP for toppling democratically elected governments while also mentioning Uddhav Thackeray.
"We cannot trust the Centre. They intend to topple democratically elected governments. They toppled government is Karnataka, Uddhav Thackeray's government in Maharashtra, the Madhya Pradesh government led by Kamal Nath. You talk of stable governance on one hand, and topple governments chosen by the people on the other hand using the powers of the Central government. You destroy the lives of common people by doing so," he said.
"They misuse their powers. Today, people are being thrown behind bars by misusing their powers and for political gains. You might have the powers to do that today but once the people unite, it won't take long to topple people playing such politics," Sharad Pawar said.
Expand3. 'The Prime Minister's Speech on Independence Day...': On PM Modi
The NCP founder attacked PM Modi on several issues including price rise, inflation, and violence in Manipur, while also taking a jibe at his Independence Day speech.
Speaking on Manipur, Sharad Pawar said that PM Modi could never understand the pain and suffering of the women of the state.
"Manipur is burning today. The two communities there are fighting each other, each village stands divided, people are killing each other, attacking each other, homes are being burnt, familes are being destroyed and women are being paraded. While all of this is going on the BJP government running the country is acting indifferently. After women were violated and homes were burnt, the prime minister of the country needed to go to Manipur to assure support to the people but he did not even look in their direction," he said.
"The day the Parliament session started, he spoke about it for merely three minutes and another 4-5 minutes after a no-confidence motion was brought in. But he did not bother to understand the pain of those women," he added.
Taking a jibe at Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis' 2019 election slogan 'Me Punha Yein! (I shall return),' Sharad Pawar said that PM Modi's speech from the Red Fort reflected a similar sentiment but will meet the same fate as that of Fadnavis.
"When the Prime Minister addressed the nation from Delhi on 15 August, he said 'me punha yein.' I have just want to tell him that there was a chief minister of Maharashtra called Devendra Fadnavis. He always said me punha yein. I want to tell the prime minister to guide Devendra Fadnavis properly. He returned but not as the chief minister, as the second-in-line," Sharad Pawar said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)
Expand
'You Say I Am Old But...': On Ajit Pawar, Rebel Leaders
Reiterating that age won't stop him from rebuilding his party, Sharad Pawar gave clear indications that he will keep up the fight against nephew Ajit Pawar who last month engineered a vertical split in the party and joined the BJP-Shiv Sena government in the state.
"I don't know what happened to some leaders in Beed. A leader told me that one of our colleagues has quit the party. I asked what happened suddenly, he was fine till yesterday. He was told that Pawar saheb is old now and if he cares about his future, a new leader should be chosen. You say I am old, but you don't know me," he said taking a jibe at Munde and other rebel leaders in the region.
"I just want to say one thing. You want to go where there's power, feel free. But at least show some humanity towards those who gave you everything to get there. If you don't, people will teach you a lesson," he added.
Targeting leaders of Ajit Pawar's faction, he said that they chose to side with those they defeated in the elections with the help of people.
"You fought elections against the BJP with the help of people, the people chose you, the people made the BJP face defeat against you, you won the election because the BJP was defeated against you, but you are sitting in power with the same BJP today. You can do that today, but when people go to the polling both to cast their votes in the future, the people will know what button to press and put you where," he said.
'You Talk of Stable Governance But...': On BJP
The NCP supremo slammed the BJP for toppling democratically elected governments while also mentioning Uddhav Thackeray.
"We cannot trust the Centre. They intend to topple democratically elected governments. They toppled government is Karnataka, Uddhav Thackeray's government in Maharashtra, the Madhya Pradesh government led by Kamal Nath. You talk of stable governance on one hand, and topple governments chosen by the people on the other hand using the powers of the Central government. You destroy the lives of common people by doing so," he said.
"They misuse their powers. Today, people are being thrown behind bars by misusing their powers and for political gains. You might have the powers to do that today but once the people unite, it won't take long to topple people playing such politics," Sharad Pawar said.
'The Prime Minister's Speech on Independence Day...': On PM Modi
The NCP founder attacked PM Modi on several issues including price rise, inflation, and violence in Manipur, while also taking a jibe at his Independence Day speech.
Speaking on Manipur, Sharad Pawar said that PM Modi could never understand the pain and suffering of the women of the state.
"Manipur is burning today. The two communities there are fighting each other, each village stands divided, people are killing each other, attacking each other, homes are being burnt, familes are being destroyed and women are being paraded. While all of this is going on the BJP government running the country is acting indifferently. After women were violated and homes were burnt, the prime minister of the country needed to go to Manipur to assure support to the people but he did not even look in their direction," he said.
"The day the Parliament session started, he spoke about it for merely three minutes and another 4-5 minutes after a no-confidence motion was brought in. But he did not bother to understand the pain of those women," he added.
Taking a jibe at Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis' 2019 election slogan 'Me Punha Yein! (I shall return),' Sharad Pawar said that PM Modi's speech from the Red Fort reflected a similar sentiment but will meet the same fate as that of Fadnavis.
"When the Prime Minister addressed the nation from Delhi on 15 August, he said 'me punha yein.' I have just want to tell him that there was a chief minister of Maharashtra called Devendra Fadnavis. He always said me punha yein. I want to tell the prime minister to guide Devendra Fadnavis properly. He returned but not as the chief minister, as the second-in-line," Sharad Pawar said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)