From labelling him an atheist to claiming he started caste politics in Maharashtra, Opposition leaders and right-wing trolls in the State have found a common target in Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. The attacks are not purely political; some have gone on to issue death threats, commented on his illness, age and even wished him hell.
The veteran Maharashtra politician — whose stature has been acknowledged even by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who once had said in a public event that he used to take advice from him — has come under a well-co-ordinated attack from the right-wing ecosystem, both online and offline. The line of attack, however, has been different — while the BJP has questioned his faith, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has accused Mr. Pawar of “dividing” Maharashtra along caste lines.
Last week, the Twitter handle of the Maharashtra BJP posted an edited video of Mr. Pawar’s public rally in Satara where he recited a verse by new-age Marathi poet Jawahar Rathod about atrocities on people from lower castes. The tweet said “atheist Sharad Pawar always hated Hindu gods”. The social media troll army immediately picked up the issue and targeted the NCP chief. Joining in the chorus were some BJP leaders, including party MLA Nitesh Rane, who questioned Mr. Pawar’s interpretation of the poem, claiming the poet did not use certain words that Mr. Pawar “added to his speech”.
