Sena slams Pawar over ‘self-respect’ remark

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena Tuesday slammed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar for saying that his party members who joined the saffron alliance had lost their self-respect.

The Sena, in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana, reminded Mr Pawar about the time he rebelled against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 1999 to form his own party.

“But he has been on good terms with her for the past one-and-a-half decade,” it read. The Sena also reminded him of the times when the Congress-NCP had taken in saffron leaders. “What kind of self-respect did they have,” the editorial asked.

The veteran politician Sunday attacked NCP members for leaving the party. Mr Pawar stated that there were some people who had lost their self-respect and switched sides. He said that the people would show them their place in the Assembly elections.

The Sena editorial said that the term ‘self-respect’ was misplaced. Those who left the Sena did not feel it was a question of losing their self-respect and still had no qualms switching loyalties. The editorial said that the current trend in politics was all about convenience and compromise.

Sitting NCP MP Amol Kolhe was also a product of the Sena but when Mr Kolhe joined the NCP, the latter’s image remained untarnished, it added.

“The term self-respect should not be used by any leader. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chintamani Rao Deshmukh had shown self-respect for the pride of Maharashtra and no one could match them. The Sena founder had taught the Marathi manoos to stand up for himself. Despite attempts to damage Maharashtra’s self-respect and pride, the Sena had maintained it,” the editorial said.

The editorial referred to Mr Pawar’s remark that in his 52-year-long political career, he had been out of power for 27 years but still worked a lot while in the Opposition. It also referred to Mr Pawar’s laughing at those switching loyalties saying they were doing so for development. The editorial said that this was the biggest joke.