NCP Chief Sharad Pawar addresses a press conference, in Mumbai. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Responding to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s “Godfather of corruption” remark on himself, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) leader and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Sharad Pawar recalled the former’s days of externment from Gujarat while giving a talk at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on Friday night.
In his address to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries in Maharashtra to motivate them and set a tone for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election, on July 21, Mr. Shah called Mr. Pawar “Godfather of corruption” and someone who institutionalised graft. He had also attacked Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) as Aurangzeb Fan Club and other two partners, Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).
Mr. Pawar in his speech said, “A few days back, Mr. Shah said a few things about me with regards to corrupt people in India and its leader. It’s strange that a person who misused the law and was externed from Gujarat by the Supreme Court is India’s Home Minister now.”
According to Mr. Pawar,. “The way people are in whose hands are taking this incorrect path, we should ponder and think about it, else I am sure that they will take the country on a wrong path,” Mr. Pawar said.
The Union Home Minister was investigated in the alleged Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake encounter case of 2005, as he was accused of approving to stage the encounter. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had chargesheeted and arrested him in July 2010. In October 2010, Mr. Shah secured a bail from the Gujarat High Court, CBI challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, who barred him from Gujarat based on the argument that he could use his political influence to tamper with the evidence or threaten witnesses. Mr. Shah remained in externment for around two years from October 2010.
