Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the "bhatakti aatma" (wandering soul) jibe, saying his soul is "asvastha" (restless) for the cause of farmers and the common man, and ready to be restless "100 times" to highlight their plight.
"There is a 'bhatakti aatma' (wandering soul) in Maharashtra. If it does not manage success it spoils others' good work. Maharashtra has been a victim of it," PM Modi had said at a rally on Monday, hitting out at Sharad Pawar without taking his name.
Addressing an election meeting on Tuesday, Mr Pawar recalled PM Modi's 2016 statement about having come into politics holding the former's finger, and said "PM Modi is angry with me of late".
"Some years ago, PM Modi had delivered a speech in Pune stating that he had come into politics by holding the finger of Pawar saheb. Yesterday, he said a 'restless' soul in Maharashtra has been causing restlessness across the state for the last 45 years," the NCP (SP) chief said.
"PM Modi had also said this soul was creating obstacles for the government. He also spoke about the need to safeguard against this soul," Mr Pawar said while addressing an election meeting in Junnar tehsil for his party Shirur Lok Sabha candidate Amol Kolhe.
Mr Pawar said he has read PM Modi's speech and the ('bhatakti aatma') statement.
"It is correct that the soul is 'asvastha' (restless) but not for the self but to highlight the hardships faced by farmers. I am restless to put forward the plight of the common man suffering from inflation. I am ready to be restless 100 times to highlight the woes of the people," the veteran politician said.
Mr Pawar also criticised the Prime Minister for dubbing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a 'shehzada' (prince), saying three generations of his family had served the country and sacrificed their lives.
The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief further said that hardships faced by the common people and other issues should be raised.
"I imbibed these values from the first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan. We will not compromise on these values," said Mr Pawar.
He said PM Modi had promised to bring down the prices of fuel and LPG cylinders after coming to power (in 2014). "But check the prevailing prices of these commodities," he said.
"PM Modi asked what he (Mr Pawar) has done all these years. Rather, he (PM Modi) should answer these questions because he has been in power for the last 10 years. He doesn't answer (these questions) but has only a one-point agenda to criticise others," the former Union minister said.
Mr Pawar said the Prime Minister should uphold the prestige of his post.
"Everybody is ready to uphold the prestige of that position (Prime Minister) but if the person who is sitting on that chair is spreading lies, criticising in a wrong way, then there is no point keeping power in the hand of such a person. We have to decide on taking out power from him," he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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