Sharad Pawar to Maha voters: 'Teach those misusing power a lesson'

Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) and National Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Saturday hit out at Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah. Pawar said that the Centre is misusing power and forcing cases against the leaders who were speaking out against the Centre’s wrong policies. His remarks come following the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opening an investigation into the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam in which he was named to be involved. 

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'Did you hear Shah's name five years ago?'

The NCP supremo was addressing a rally in Baramati, Maharashtra, from where his nephew and former deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar is going to be contesting the elections. Pawar asked the people to teach those misusing power a lesson in the October 21 polls. Hitting out at the Union Home Minister, the NCP supremo stated, “I am asking you, did you hear Shah's name five years ago? The person, whose name people don't know and whose contribution the country does not know, is asking what I have done for Maharashtra," he said. 

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'Do what you want to do'

In a reference to senior Indian National Congress (INC) leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar said, "When a former finance minister criticised the government on its economic policies, some case was made and he was put behind the bars. Similarly, my name was brought into the case of a bank in which I am not even a member." Pawar was named by the ED in an alleged scam in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank. Asserting that he was not scared of such tactics, the NCP supremo said, "Do what you want to do. We have the power to face these things. In this election, the time has come to answer them. We have to show those who misuse power their place.”

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ED's case against Pawar

The ED, last month, has filed a case against Sharad Pawar, his nephew Ajit Pawar, and others in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam case. Officials said that an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to a police FIR, has been registered by the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The case is based on a Mumbai Police FIR. The FIR had named former chairmen of the bank, former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar and 70 former functionaries of the cooperative bank. 

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(Inputs from PTI)