Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar took thinly veiled jibes at Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Pune on March 6.
Mr. Pawar, who shared the dais with Mr. Modi and Mr. Koshyari and other leaders during the Prime Minister’s public address at the city’s MIT College ground, criticised the Governor over his recent controversial remarks on the 17 thcentury Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji and the 19 th century social reformers Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule.
“I want to bring it to the Prime Minister’s notice that in recent times, some people in important positions [referring to Mr. Koshyari] have been uttering statements which are unacceptable to anyone in Maharashtra. Chhatrapati Shivaji established ‘Swaraj’ for the ryots [tillers] while social reformers Savitribai and her husband Jyotiba Phule laid the foundation for women’s education in the State… We have to take the legacy of these great personages forward without resorting to politics,” Mr. Ajit Pawar said.
