‘Don’t politicise’: NCP(SP) hits back as Sena (UBT) criticises Shinde’s felicitation by Pawar

Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday expressed strong disapproval of its ally and NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar for felicitating Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, exposing cracks in the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).

Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said honouring a person who split the Shiv Sena and "weakened Maharashtra" has hurt the sentiments of Marathi people.

This is perhaps for the first time that the Sena (UBT) launched a direct attack on Pawar, considered the chief architect of the MVA, an unlikely alliance of three parties with divergent political views, formed in 2019.

What perhaps upset the Sena (UBT) the most was Pawar's praise of Shinde, a bête-noire of the party. The Sena (UBT), especially Raut, party chief Uddhav Thackeray and leader Aaditya Thackeray have been highly critical of Shinde.

It was Shinde who split the Shiv Sena with the help of Amit Shah, and felicitating him was akin to honouring the BJP leader, said Raut.

Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress are partners in the MVA, which was in power in the state from November 2019 to June 2022.

Shinde was on Tuesday honoured in Delhi with the Mahadji Shinde Rashtra Gaurav Puraskar at the hands of Pawar on the occasion of the 98th Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan.

While Pawar's party said it was a programme about literature and not politics, the BJP termed the felicitation an admission by the NCP (SP) president that Shinde was a better chief minister than Uddhav Thackeray.

Pawar heads the reception committee of the literary meet, scheduled to start next week.

Raut said Pawar should not have attended the event, as Shinde toppled the Uddhav Thackeray-led government of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress in Maharashtra in 2022 by resorting to "betrayal".

"Certain things should be avoided in politics. Yesterday, Sharad Pawar did not felicitate Shinde, but he felicitated Amit Shah. This is our feeling," the Rajya Sabha member told reporters in Delhi.

"Giving such an honour to someone we consider an enemy of Maharashtra is a jolt to Maharashtra's pride. Pawar must have thought differently, but such politics has not gone down well with the people of Maharashtra," Raut said.

"You (Sharad Pawar) are a senior politician, and we respect you. But the ones who split Balasaheb Thackeray's Shiv Sena with the help of Amit Shah and weakened Maharashtra, you are honouring such people. This has hurt the sentiments of Marathi people," he said.

"We don't understand your Delhi politics, but we too understand politics," Raut further said.

During the event, Pawar said Shinde was one of the leaders who played a critical role in taking the politics of Thane in the right direction.

He also said in the recent 50 years, Shinde is one of the leaders who is well-versed with civic issues.

Raut said, "Pawar saheb has wrong information. It is the Shiv Sena which took the politics of Thane in the right direction. Thane's development started in the tenure of Satish Pradhan who was the first mayor of Thane.

"There were many Shiv Sena mayors after that. If Pawar saheb needs information on this, then we will send Rajan Vichare (former mayor, MLA and MP) with all the relevant files." Shinde termed Raut's remarks as unfortunate and said it was a result of the "heartburn" caused due to the award.

NCP (SP) MP Amol Kolhe said Raut could be voicing his personal opinion. The event in the national capital was part of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, he pointed out.

"He showed statesmanship, where one does not bring politics into everything. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. He is the president of the event (reception committee), Kolhe added.

NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar said Raut's reaction is surprising considering that Maharashtra has the tradition of civilised politics of Yashwantrao Chavan and Bal Thackeray, and senior Pawar carried this tradition forward, never allowing socio-cultural programmes to become a barrier due to political differences.

He said Raut's hasty reaction must be due to BJP's attempts to muddy the state's politics and hurt Maharashtra's pride in the last two-three years.

Asked about Raut's disappointment over Pawar felicitating Shinde, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the NCP (SP) president has, in a way, endorsed that the Shiv Sena chief did much better work as CM than Uddhav Thackeray.

The BJP leader claimed Pawar had noted in his autobiography that Thackeray visited Mantralaya only twice when he was the CM between 2019 and mid-2022. By contrast, Shinde worked for 22 hours a day as the CM, he said.

Bawankule said Pawar took time to realise that Thackeray had damaged the state, while Shinde set it on the path of progress.

On Raut's comments that Pawar should not have felicitated Shinde, the BJP leader said, "I was under the impression that Sharad Pawar used to provide guidance to Sanjay Raut, but it seems Raut is now trying to offer him suggestions. Raut has not yet understood the political culture of Maharashtra. I feel bad for Pawar." He said that Pawar had always upheld Maharashtra's political culture. There is no need for Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut to express their annoyance over the episode, he said.

He also slammed Raut for speaking ill of Shah.

"Raut cannot match the stature of the Union home minister. Has Raut ever contested an election? Shah has contested 11 elections. Raut should speak cautiously and avoid being ridiculed," Bawankule said. PTI