PM Modi is otherwise OK but becomes hysterical during elections: NCP chief Sharad Pawar

 Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Sunday said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi is otherwise “alright” but turns hysterical during elections. He also took a dig at PM Modi as he advised his party workers not to criticise anybody at the personal level, because that responsibility has been taken up by the prime minister. He was speaking to NCP workers at Daund in Pune district of Maharashtra. “I would like to tell you that do not criticise anybody at the personal level. When the prime minister of the country has taken up that responsibility, why should you get into that,” he said sarcastically.

PM Modi had earlier said that Pawar was losing his grip over the party because of a rift in his family. Replying to which the NCP chief said that while his family is united, the country does not know whether the person (Modi) has anybody in his family or not. “How did Modi come to know about any fights in (my) family? We all live together lovingly. We all work in different fields. When I meet him (Modi), I will tell him that my entire family is together and united,” the former Union minister said.

“That person should not talk about other’s families. It is not good to talk about someone’s house. I will tell him (Modi) when I meet him that if he does not become PM again, he will be an MP and I will also be there (in Parliament),” Pawar said.

However, the NCP chief also said that PM Modi and he enjoyed “good relations”.

“Everybody knows what he spoke about me in Delhi, in Baramati and at Vasantdada Sugar Institute in Pune. You know one thing about this man. Usually he is okay, but when there are elections, he turns ‘hysterical’ (angat yete) and he starts speaking anything, so there is no need to pay heed to that,” Pawar said in Marathi.

Addressing a rally at Hadapsar in the city, Pawar said maximum attacks on India have taken place when the BJP is in power. “The (Kandahar) plane hijack happened under the BJP government, so did the attack on Parliament in 2001. Similarly, the attacks on Akshardham temple (in Gujarat in 2002) and recently in Pathankot also happened when the BJP is at the helm,” he said. So, he appealed to party workers to toil hard to win the elections and defeat the BJP this time around.

(With PTI inputs)