Pawar Says He is Restless for Cause of Farmers, Common People

Mumbai: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bhatakti Aatma (wandering soul) jibe at NCP (SP) chief   the veteran leader hit back saying he will always be restless for the cause of farmers and common man. His alliance partners Shiv Sena UBT and Congress also criticised the PM for disrespecting Mr. Pawar.

“It is correct that the soul is restless. But it is not for personal objectives, but to highlight the hardships faced by farmers. I am restless to put forward the plight of the common man suffering from inflation. I am ready to be restless 100 times to highlight the woes of the people,” Pawar said in Pune on Tuesday.

“Modi is angry with me of late. But there were times when he had stated that he (Modi) had come into politics by holding the finger of Pawar saheb. Now he is saying I am a wandering soul,” he added.

Pawar’s remarks came on the backdrop of Modi’s criticism of the NCP founder without taking his name at an election rally on Monday.

“There is a ‘bhatakti aatma’ (wandering soul) in Maharashtra. If it does not manage success, it spoils others’ good work. Maharashtra has been a victim of it,” Modi had said at a rally in Pune on Monday.

A ‘wanderings’ soul in Maharashtra has been causing restlessness across the state for the last 45 years. This soul is creating obstacles for the government and there is a need to safeguard against it, the PM had said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said it was not fair on Modi to call Pawar a ‘wandering soul.’ “It is against our culture. He (Modi) should talk about his development works, if he was so sure about them,” he added.

Another NCP (SP) leader Jitendra Awhad asked if Modi was waiting for Pawar’s death. “The things of the soul are spoken only after death. That (the remarks) means they want the death of Sharad Pawar. There seems to be some feeling in NDA that until Sharad Pawar leaves, Maharashtra will not come into their hands,” he said.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said that Modi himself was a bhatakati aatma as the latter keeps spreading lies. “In the last 10 years, he has been busy only campaigning and spreading lies,” he said.