Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments on a "Rs 70,000 crore scam" by NCP, a day after a Pune trust selected the PM for Tilak National award and invited Sharad Pawar for the August 1 function as chief guest.
Prominent among the invitees is Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as deputy chief minister on July 2 while eight MLAs of his camp were sworn in as ministers.
“What happened to the Rs 70,000 crore scam? Who will be there on the stage? That (the NCP) party is with you,” Thackeray told reporters.
Addressing booth workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bhopal last month, PM Modi had said there were allegations of scams of nearly Rs 70,000 crore against NCP, including the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam, irrigation scam and illegal mining scam.
He also urged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers to uncover more scams and increase NCP’s “scam meter.” In response to these allegations, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar later addressed the press conference in Pune.
During the conference, Pawar stated, “Modi made allegations about Shikhar Bank. However, I am not a member of any cooperative bank, let alone Shikhar Bank. I have never taken a loan from these cooperative banks. There was a previous complaint regarding Shikhar Bank, and during the inquiry, the names of some individuals from both NCP and BJP were mentioned.”
He then added, “The state government was responsible for looking into the allegations concerning Shikhar Bank. At that time, BJP held the position of Chief Minister in the state, and Devendra Fadnavis was the Chief Minister. I am not aware of what actions Fadnavis took during that period. There was no need for Modi to mention Shikhar Bank in this manner.”
Pawar also remarked, “Modi’s attack must have been driven by desperation. They were disappointed after observing the US tour and the situation in India. It is likely that out of frustration, they carried out this attack,” subtly mocking Modi.
Slamming the BJP-led Centre over the alleged misuse of probe agencies to target Opposition parties, Thackeray said, “Time is cruel. When it turns against them, it will be difficult for them.”
PM Modi will be conferred with Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune on August 1, the 103rd death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak. Sharad Pawar has been invited to the award ceremony as the chief guest, Trust president Deepak Tilak said in a release on Monday.
PM Modi has been selected for the award, comprising a memento and citation, in recognition of his "supreme leadership and for awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens".
Other invitees include Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.
