Sharad Pawar criticizes Modi for prioritizing BJP over nation in speeches

NCP chief Sharad Pawar accuses PM Modi of being "BJP's PM" and not of India, calling for more focus on country's issues. Pawar criticizes Modi's speeches attacking opposition instead of outlining plans for the nation. Campaigning in Maharashtra, Pawar highlights unemployment and drought issues ignored by the government.

The prime minister belongs to the country and has the responsibility to lead the nation but Narendra Modi's speeches suggest he is "BJP's PM" and not India, claimed NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday.

PM Modi should tell the people what he and his party will do for the country instead of attacking the opposition, said the 83-year-old NCP founder at a campaign rally in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Pawar was here to canvass for opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates Chandrakant Khaire, who is contesting from the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency on a Sena (UBT) ticket, and Congress' Kalyan Kale from Jalna. The central Maharashtra constituencies, located in the state's Marathwada region, will go to polls in the fourth phase on May 13.

Pawar said, "I was listening to Narendra Modi's speech before I came here (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar). The prime minister belongs to the entire country. If we listen to Modi's speeches, it seems he is the prime minister of BJP and not the country." The NCP (SP) chief said PM Modi and BJP should tell the people what they will do for the country. "But sometimes they criticise Nehru (country's first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru), sometimes Rahul Gandhi and also me at times," he said. Nehru spent over ten years of his life in jail fighting against the British. He encouraged science, said Pawar. Incidentally, PM Modi on Saturday held rallies in Nanded and Parbhani constituencies in the state and attacked the opposition, particularly the Congress.

According to a recent report by the International Labour Organisation, 87 of 100 students coming out of college are unemployed in India, claimed Pawar.

Speaking about the Marathwada, Pawar said, "There is a severe drought in the region as well as in other parts of the state. But the Centre and state government have no time to address this situation." In the Aurangabad, AIMIM's sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel and Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi's Afsar Khar are in the fray, while the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is yet to declare its candidate. In Jalna, Kale is pitted against BJP's sitting MP Raosaheb Danve.