Sharad Pawar Praises Pakistan, Says Ruling Class Spreading False Things For Political Benefits

At a time the NCP is plunged into a crisis due to a string of desertions ahead of the high-stake Maharashtra Assembly polls, party patriarch Sharad Pawar has made controversial remark after praising Pakistan for its hospitality. “I have visited Pakistan and received hospitality there. Pakistanis believe that even if they can’t go to India to meet their relatives, they treat an Indian as their relatives,” Pawar said on Saturday during a special event for minorities at party headquarters in Mumbai.

"People here say Pakistanis are facing injustice and are unhappy but it is not true. Such statements are being said only for political gains without understanding actual situation in Pakistan. Ruling class here is spreading false things for political benefits,” Pawar added.

The veteran politician speaking on the Centre's recent decision of abrogation of Article 370 said, by scrapping Article 370, the government wants to convey that they are opposing a minority state and, in the process, this action of theirs will lead to more terrorism in the Valley. Tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated ever since the Narendra Modi government abrogated the Article 370 of Indian Constitution that gave Jammu and Kashmir a special status.

Pawar is setting out on a state-wide tour beginning September 17 to reach out to people. Pawar will visit ten districts of Solapur, Osmanabad, Beed, Latur, Hingoli, Parbhani, Jalna, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar and Satara in the first phase of the tour, the NCP said on Twitter.

The NCP had managed to retain its 2014 tally of four LS seats in Maharashtra. Recently, former ministers Ganesh Naik, Sachin Ahir and Jaydutt Kshirasagar, MLAs Shivendrasinh Bhosale, Sandip Naik and Vaibhav Pichad to name a few switched their allegiance to the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena.

The NCP is fighting the upcoming Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress and some smaller parties. In the assembly elections held in 2014, the Sharad Pawar-led party had won 41 out of the total 288 seats.