Sharad Pawar belittles death threats to PM Narendra Modi

In the wake of recovery of an alleged Maoist letter suggesting to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi NCP chief Sharad Pawar today said the BJP was trying to generate sympathy by playing a threat letter cardSpeaking at a function marking the 19th anniversary of the NCP as well as the culmination of the partys hallabol campaign Pawar said the people would not fall prey to the BJPs attempts to generate sympathyA string of rallies and protests were held under the NCPs Hallabol campaign against the BJPled Maharashtra government which was launched in Yeotmal in east Maharashtra last DecemberAccording to police probing the January 1 BhimaKoregaon caste violence a letter found in the house of a person arrested for alleged maoist links talks about the ultras mulling Rajiv Gandhitype incident and suggesting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be targeted during his road showsThe letter was recovered from the house of Rona Wilson who was among five people arrested arrested from MumbaiNagpur and Delhi in connection with Elgar Parishad held in Pune in December and the subsequent BhimaKoregaon violence in the districtPawar alleged the government was branding some progressive people as naxalites for organising the eventSome progressive people in Pune came together and organised the Elgar Parishad Now the government is arrestingsome of them and branding them naxalitesEveryone knows who were behind the Bhima Koregaon violence but instead of arresting them those who have noconnection have been arrested and this is called the misuse of power the former union minister saidNCP stalwart Chhagan Bhujbal who was released on bail last month in a money laundering case also attended theeventThe BJP has realised that they are losing the popular support In order to gain sympathy the BJP is now playing thethreat letter card However I am sure that the people will not fall prey to such tactics Pawar saidThe veteran politician who is trying to project himself as the pivot to unite opposition parties to take on the BJP in 2019 polls has intensified his attack on the BJP in last few weeks Pawar also raised doubts about the veracity of the threat letterI have spoken to a senior retired police officer who told me that when such letters come they do not go to media but to the security agencies which make sure that adequate security measures are taken the former chief minister said He said the BJPs graph is going down across the countryAppreciating Bhujbals work as former PWD minister Pawar said the Maharashtra Sadan building in Delhi is the fine example of modern structure as even the prime minister holds a meeting thereMaharashtra Sadan was at the centre of a money laundering case against Bhujbal who is accused of having received kickbacks from a developer in lieu of awarding the contract for constructing the buildingIt is unfortunate that the person who did an excellent job by constructing such structure was put behind bars Pawar said referring to Bhujbals incarceration of two years before getting bailSimilarly veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram who had done an outstanding job as a former finance minister isbeing falsely implicated he allegedReferring to the glitches in Electronic Voting Machines EVMs during the BhandaraGondiya Lok Sabha bypoll held last month Pawar claimed the election commission on a complaint of the NCP gave in writing that 64 EVms were notworkingThey BJP are trying to manipulate EVMs to win the elections as they have understood that they would not be ableto win the elections in a democratic manner he allegedPawar said he was appealing to all the likeminded parties barring the BJP to approach Chief Election Commissioner for discarding EVMs and bringing back the old system of paper ballotSpeaking about building a common platform against the BJP before 2019 polls the NCP chief said All likemindedparties should come together The NCP has already taken a lead to reach out to such parties he saidOn the occasion Pawar offered a Phule Pagadia traditional turban named after the 19th century social reformer Jyotiba Phuleto Bhujbal a prominent OBC leader He directed the NCP workers to use the Phule Pagdi for felicitation in future public functions instead of traditional Puneri Pagadi a turban which is considered as a symbol of pride and honour in PuneCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever