Amit Shah vs Sharad Pawar flare-up: Why they are saying what they are

After a hiatus of a few months, a war of words has again erupted between senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and NCP (SP) President Sharad Pawar, which may escalate in view of the coming local body elections across Maharashtra.

Addressing the Maharashtra BJP executive meeting in Shirdi last Sunday, Shah said the party’s triumph in the recent Assembly elections ended the “politics of betrayal and treachery” started by Sharad Pawar in 1978. He said the people of the state had “buried such politics 20 feet underground”.

In the polls, the incumbent Mahayuti coalition of the BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP won 230 of the 288 seats, with the BJP itself bagging 132 seats. The Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, NCP(SP) and Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), was routed, with just 46 seats.

Stung by Shah’s attack, Sharad Pawar hit back Tuesday, saying none of his predecessors as Union home ministers was a “tadipaar” like him. “The dignity of the Home Minister’s post should be maintained. Till now, many legendary leaders have held the Home Ministry. But none of them were externed from their state. These were leaders who made a major contribution to the country during their tenure as Home Minister,” Pawar said.