PUNE: NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar has cautioned his detractors that they should mess with anyone but him and appealed to voters to not just defeat those who rebelled under Ajit Pawar, but “defeat them big” in the Maharashtra assembly polls.Addressing a rally at Madha in Solapur district on Sunday ahead of the November 20 state polls, Sharad Pawar recounted an episode of defection that led to him losing the post of leader of opposition in the assembly almost five decades ago and his resolve that led to the defeat of all those who had backstabbed him.”In the elections of 1980, 58 persons won polls from our party and I became leader of opposition. I had gone abroad and when I came back I realised Chief Minister AR Antulay saheb had done some miracles and 52 of the 58 MLAs had switched sides. I lost the post of LoP,” he said.”I did nothing (at the time). I just started reaching out to people across the state and worked hard for three years. In the next elections, I fielded young candidates against all 52 MLAs who had left me. I am proud of the people of Maharashtra that all 52 who left me were defeated,” he told the gathering.The 83-year-old former Union minister emphasised his status as an undefeated politician since he became an MLA in 1967 at the age of 27 and said, “I have my own experiences.””The people who betrayed should be shown their place. Don’t just defeat them, defeat them big,” the former state chief minister said.
Source link
