Maha bypolls: Time to teach 'traitors' a lesson, says Ajit Pawar

MUMBAI: Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Monday said it was time to teach a lesson to the ''traitors'' who halted the good work being done by the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra.

Pawar, who was speaking at a rally for the Chinchwad bypoll, was referring to the June 2022 rebellion of Ekanth Shinde, which brought down the Uddhav Thackeray government. Shinde became CM with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Apart from Chinchwad, the other Assembly seat where bypolls are scheduled is Kasba, also in Pune district. These bypolls, which will take place on February 26, have been necessitated due to the death of sitting BJP MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap from Kasba and Chinchwad, respectively.

Pawar was campaigning for NCP colleague and MVA candidate Nana Kate, who is up against Bharatiya Janata Party's Ashwini Jagtap in Chinchwad. ''By winning these two seats, we have to show everybody the MVA government under Uddhav Thackeray was doing good work before traitors put a halt to it. The time has come to teach them a lesson. That is why these bypolls are so important for us,'' Pawar said.

Pawar criticized the BJP for taking ailing MLAs Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap in ambulances to the Legislature complex in Mumbai for voting in the MLC and Rajya Sabha polls.

''This exertion was unbearable for them but they remained silent for the party. The BJP should have understood health is more important than polls but these selfish people (BJP leaders) did not pay heed,'' Pawar alleged.

Addressing the gathering, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said the MVA will win these two bypolls in the same way it defeated the BJP-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena combine in the recent MLC polls.

''According to surveys, if Lok Sabha polls are held today, the MVA will will 34 to 36 seats and the BJP-Shinde faction 12,'' he claimed.

He also criticised the Shinde government for ''allowing industries to move to other states''.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole was also present at the rally.