Not speaking ill of the dead is a practice which is highly revered, not just in the Indian tradition but all over the world. However, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, in his effort to criticise BJP has reached a new low by slandering the late Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar.
Accusing BJP of corruption over the Rafale case, Sharad Pawar claimed that late BJP leader Manohar Parrikar quit the defence ministry because he did not agree with the Rafale jet deal. He stated, “The Rafale deal was not acceptable to Manohar Parrikar. He therefore resigned from the post of defence minister and returned to Goa.”
The country had witnessed the untimely demise of Manohar Parrikar last month, after his long battle with pancreatic cancer. Often regarded as the “CM of Commons”, Parrikar had truly served the people of Goa by working till his last breath. Being a true statesman, he wasn’t involved in any controversy throughout his whole life, and Pawar here wants to use his good name in furtherance to his own political agenda. In reply to his tall remarks without any proof whatsoever, BJP president Amit Shah has slashed these allegations. He has accused Pawar of spreading falsehoods, attributing them to Pawar’s own misfortunes and family fights over the seats.
He tweeted, “Being a former defence minister yourself, one expected better from you Pawar Sahab! Your party’s falling fortunes and family fights over seats is making you nervous and spread falsehoods.”
Being a former Defence Minister yourself, one expected better from you Pawar Sahab!
Your party’s falling fortunes and family fights over seats is making you nervous and spread falsehoods.
Talking of quitting, remember why you quit Congress and what you did thereafter? pic.twitter.com/6URPXIJ3u4
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) April 14, 2019
He also made a jibe at Sharad Pawar, reminding the public of his own reasons of quitting Congress. Back in 1999, he had quit Congress due to Sonia Gandhi’s stake on the Prime Ministerial post after the collapse of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He felt that Sonia Gandhi, bring of a foreign origin lacked credentials to lead the country and felt himself to be the ideal candidate. He stated, “Manmohan Singh or I was the right claimant to that post (of Prime Minister). I was at home when I came to know from media reports that the Congress president had staked claim to form the government. That was the moment when I decided to quit Congress.”
PM Modi on this said that what he had heard was that Sharad Pawar had staked claim to be the Congress president and therefore, was shown the door by that party. “This can happen only in the parties led by families,” he stated.
Manohar Parrikar had agreed to the post of the Defence Minister on PM Modi’s request. Thereafter he resigned in 2017 to be the Chief Minister of Goa. It is a well known fact that Manohar Parrikar had returned to Goa to resume the post of the Chief Minister of the state due demands by BJP’s allies that he should be leading the alliance government. Moreover, he was a simple man, accustomed to his life in Goa. He stated, “Delhi is not my area of operations (and) that is why I used to feel under pressure. I chose to come back to Goa when I got an opportunity to do so. When you are in the Centre, you have to tackle issues like Kashmir and others.”
Manohar Parrikar was his happiest in his own state. When people asked him as to his untimely return from the Defence Ministry, he quirkily replied that he can’t stay away from Goan cuisine for so long.
The opposition parties just can’t seem to let the Rafale issue go, even after the NDA government has received a clean chit from the Supreme Court and the CAG. In their efforts to tarnish the name of an honest government, using a dead man’ name, one who is much appreciated and revered by all in politics, is another level of desperation.
