Mumbai, June 02: In a defence of his estranged uncle and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday said that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s outburst against the Shiv Sena leader was nothing but an attempt “to divert the attention of people from the scams he and his family members are involved in”.
A day after Pawar created a stir by questioning the senior Thackeray’s contribution to society, the MNS chief said that the criticism of his uncle was “totally unwarranted”.
“There was no occasion or reason for Pawar to criticise Balasaheb. If he has done so, it is mainly to divert the attention of the people from the thousands of crores worth scams that he and other Pawar family members are involved in,” Raj said, as he defended his uncle.
The MNS chief vented out his anger against Pawar on a day when the Sena chief himself launched a retaliatory attack against Pawar who, he said, had established to one and all that he had no grey cells left in him. “If he chooses to ask eight crore people of Maharashtra or the Hindu community members across the country, they would tell him as to what is my contribution to the society,” Bal Thackeray commented in an editorial published in the Sena mouth-piece “Saamna”.
Pawar’s outburst against the Sena chief has left many shocked in the state political circles. Addressing a public rally at Akole in Ahmednagar in western Maharashtra, Pawar had not only questioned the Sena chief’s contribution to society but had also charged that the senior Thackeray had long been “misleading” the people by playing with their emotions over Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji’s name.
“Has the Shiv Sena has started any co-operative sugar factory in the state? Has it started any college or educational institution? Has it started any co-operative milk society? What has Thackeray done for the society? If he has done anything, it is to mobilise people by simply invoking the name of Shivaji. Let’s face it, we all have utmost respect for Shivaji. But, what Thackeray is doing is to mislead the people by playing with the emotions of people,” Pawar had said.
Wondering as to what had prompted Pawar to sling mud at his his ageing uncle, Raj said: “Considering Balasaheb’s age, Pawar should not have indulged in such a criticism of the Sena chief. The fact is that Ajitdada is rattled by various scams that have surfaced in the past like MSC Bank scandal, illegal farm house and links with his family members’ Spectrum scam accused Shahid Balwa…. He is trying to do is to divert the attention of people from these scams worth several thousand crores by raising new issues. One day he will crticise Balasaheb and on the other he will eulogise late B R Ambedkar”
In a related development, Bal Thackeray was equally critical of Ajitdada “Yes I have not minted money by starting educational institutions as has been done by the Congress-NCP leaders in the state. It is also true that I have not started co-operative banks and swindled money from them. It is also true that I have not made the lives of farmers miserable by running by the co-operative sugar factories as if they are our own. He should realize that I have not come to politics to make money,” the Sena chief stated in his editorial.
——–Agencies