Meanwhile, Pawar also rubbished Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks that the BJP’s victory in the Maharashtra assembly polls ended the politics of betrayal and treachery started by him in 1978.”I was the chief minister in 1978. I am not aware about his whereabouts then,” Pawar told reporters in Mumbai.”When I was the chief minister, there were people like Uttamrao Patil from Jan Sangh in my ministry,” Pawar added.The decorum of the post of home minister should be maintained, the NCP (SP) chief said, bemoaning the lack of communication between present political leaders.”There used to be susanvad’ (good communication) between political leaders earlier but that is missing now,” he said.”The victory of BJP in Maharashtra ended the politics of instability and backstabbing started by Sharad Pawar in 1978. You (people) have buried such politics 20-foot in the ground,” Shah had said, addressing a state-level convention of BJP in Shirdi on Sunday.Shah’s apparent reference was to Pawar walking out of the Vasantdada Patil-led government in 1978 with 40 MLAs and becoming the CM.”This country has seen many excellent home ministers, but none of them was externed from his state,” Pawar said, in an apparent reference to Shah being externed in 2010 from Gujarat for two years in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case.He was acquitted of all charges in 2014.”When he (Shah) could not stay in Gujarat (after being externed), he went to Balasaheb Thackeray for help,” Pawar said.On speculation that he will extend support to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Pawar said, “Not even a single MP of my party wants to go with BJP.”NCP-SCP chief Sharad Pawar also spoke on the Delhi elections and expressed his support for INDIA bloc ally and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal ahead of the upcoming assembly polls.Notably, the alliance is currently facing challenges as the Congress and AAP in Delhi are at loggerheads ahead of the assembly elections, scheduled to be held on February 5.Pawar suggested that his party should assist Kejriwal in the electoral race, signalling potential political collaboration between the two leaders. “In Delhi assembly elections, my feeling is that we should help Arvind Kejriwal,” said Sharad Pawar.The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 consecutive years, has suffered significant setbacks in the last two assembly elections, failing to win any seats. In contrast, AAP dominated the 2020 assembly elections, winning 62 out of 70 seats, while the BJP secured only eight.The Delhi Assembly elections will be conducted in a single phase on February 5, with the counting of votes scheduled for February 8.
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