Senior leader Sharad Pawar on Sunday (February 11) claimed that no BJP leader has faced the Enforcement Directorate heat since the party came to power in 2014. On the Election Commission recently recognising the faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar as the 'real' NCP and allotting the party's poll symbol 'Clock' to his group, Sharad Pawar said such a situation has never been witnessed in the country and the people will not support such a decision.
Ajit Pawar had ditched the Opposition’s camp last year and joined the Maharashtra government along with eight other MLAs.
The Election Commission allotted 'Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar' as the party name for the group led by Sharad Pawar.
Addressing an event in Pune, Pawar claimed that a misuse of power has been done against anyone who opposes the ruling BJP.
Pawar attacks BJP
"The ED has conducted investigations across the country, with 6,000 cases registered from 2005 to 2023. But, substantial findings were obtained in 25 cases, and 85 per cent of the cases involved political leaders from the opposition," he claimed.
"Since the BJP has been in power (from 2014), no leader from the party has faced action from the ED. Moreover, investigations against BJP leaders were halted after the party came to power," he further claimed at the Aarogya Doot Abhiyan organised by his party.
Pawar called the EC’s decision “surprising” and said that such an instance was never witnessed in the country when a political party belonging to someone was given to another person.
"The EC's decision is surprising. Our political party was given to other people, such a situation was never witnessed in the country. I believe that people will not support such a decision. We will have a discussion on the new name and symbol on Monday. EC snatched the party (NCP) from the hands of those who founded it and gave it to others. Such a thing never happened before. The Election Commission not only snatched our symbol but also handed over our party to others," he said.
Pawar on CAA
When asked about the Citizenship Amendment Act, Pawar said that its implementation is not right. “Let's see what happens next week,” he said.
Union Home Minister Amid Shah has said the CAA, enacted in 2019, will be implemented before the Lok Sabha polls after issuing the rules in this regard.
The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
(With PTI inputs)
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