I Have Come Here to Apologise, I Trusted Wrong People: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday reminded Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his recent remarks about corruption' of NCP leaders, and asked him to act against those who are guilty.

PM Modi should use all the powers at his disposal and punish the corrupt, he said at a rally at Yeola in Maharashtra's Nashik district.

A week after his nephew Ajit Pawar rebelled against him and joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state along with seven other MLAs including senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, Sharad Pawar started a statewide tour in an attempt to rally the cadre behind him. Yeola, 250 km north of Mumbai, is Bhujbal's Assembly constituency.

Speaking at a BJP program in Bhopal last month, prime minister Modi had accused the NCP of being involved in corruption of Rs 70,000 crore, listing out alleged scams in the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank as well as in the state's irrigation and mining sectors. "As the president of the NCP....I am saying this in public. If you think anyone is involved in corruption, then use all the powers at your disposal and probe the allegations thoroughly,'' Pawar said, referring to the PM's statements. ''If you conclude that anyone has made a mistake, then hand out any punishment, we will all support you," the 82-year-old politician added.

The BJP had targeted Ajit Pawar over alleged corruption during the 2014 Assembly polls. He took oath as Maharashtra's deputy Chief Minister on July 2.

Speaking at the rally, Pawar senior also asked rebel NCP leaders not to talk about his age, asserting that he will continue to work for party cadres.

"Some people say you have become old and you should retire. I agree that I am 82, but you have not seen this player yet. I am still first-class. There is no need to talk about anything more. If you talk of age, then do it at your own peril," he said.

Without naming Bhujbal, Pawar said, "I erred in trusting some people, but will not repeat the mistake. I have come here to apologise for the same." He would come to Yeola at the time of the next elections and pick up a good candidate, he said. Ahead of the rally, Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule, a Lok Sabha member, shared a photo of her father drenched in rain and sitting in a vehicle.

In the 2019 elections, a photo of Sharad Pawar speaking at a rally in Satara district of western Maharashtra in pouring rain had gone viral and became a symbol of the veteran leader's political resilience.