Ajit Pawar downplays PM Modi’s ‘wandering spirit’ remark about senior Pawar

As campaigning intensifies in Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, the Pawar family faces sharp rhetoric ahead of elections.

As the battle for the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency inches closer, the campaigning rhetoric surrounding the Pawar family has sharpened noticeably.

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On Wednesday, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar chose to downplay Prime Minister Modi’s comments deriding his uncle Sharad Pawar earlier this week during the PM’s rallies in the four Lok Sabha seats of Pune district.

Earlier this week, during his rally in Pune, the PM sardonically alluded to the 83-year-old Sharad Pawar as a “roving, restless spirit” (bhatakti atma) who was responsible for Maharashtra’s chronic political instability.

In Pune today, Ajit Pawar, who split the NCP founded by his uncle last year, chose to remain silent on the PM’s comments, saying he did not know whom Mr. Modi was referring to.

Ajit also said that while he regarded Pawar senior as “his God” in the past, they were now on different paths.

“I was present when the Prime Minister made these remarks … I am not aware of whom he was referring to… I will ask when we meet next during an election rally. I do not want to comment on a statement made by a leader of such high stature,” Ajit Pawar said.