PM must seriously look into concerns of opposition leaders on misuse of Central agencies: Sharad Pawar

NCP chief says he sensed ‘a desire for political change’ among the people of Maharashtra as he toured the State

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take seriously the concerns expressed by opposition leaders over the alleged misuse of Central agencies.

Speaking to reporters in Pune, Mr. Pawar, whose party is allied to the Congress and the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT)-led Shiv Sena faction in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, further remarked that he sensed “a desire for political change” among the people of Maharashtra, which is currently helmed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Last week, nine leaders from eight political parties had written to Mr. Modi criticising the arrest of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case, while alleging that the “misuse” of Central agencies implied that the country had “transitioned from being a democracy to an autocracy”.

“I was the first to sign the letter to PM Modi. We want the Prime Minister to take our concerns seriously,” the NCP chief said.

Commenting on Mr. Sisodia’s arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the now-scrapped liquor policy, Mr. Pawar said, “Mr. Sisodia worked well for the education sector and was praised by many, but today he’s being arrested.”

Opposition leaders who were the signatories to the letter included Mr. Pawar’s MVA ally, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Telangana CM K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Trinamool Congress head Mamata Banerjee, National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav.

The leaders have alleged that the timing of the cases against opposition leaders or their arrests in some cases “coincided with elections”, which clearly implied that the actions thus taken were “politically motivated”.