Sharad Pawar backs Sonia, sees BJP conspiracy

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that an Emergency-like situation has been created in the country. For the first time, excessive power is being blatantly used in the country and interference is happening among the top intuitions of the country, he said.

Mr Pawar alleged that Christian Michel, while the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody, has named a ‘Mrs Gandhi’ as a part of a conspiracy. Michel is an alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter case.

Addressing a press conference in Ahmednagar, Mr Pawar said that for the first time in the country’s history, four Supreme Court Justices held a press conference to make an allegation. “The premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is also no more independent,” he said.

Mr Pawar further said that a similar situation had been seen in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where the then-governor Raghuram Rajan had resigned.

Mr Pawar also said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had brought Urjit Patel from Gujarat to the RBI, but he did not get along with them. “Mr Modi had an eye on the money of the RBI but Mr Patel was against the government’s demand and hence he had to resign.”

Mr Pawar added that the government has now have put its man at the helm of the RBI’s affairs. “All our institutions have been shaky. This had never happened before,” he said.

The NCP chief also pointed out that attempts are being made to discourage opponents at present. He said, “Michel has taken the name of Sonia Gandhi and the ED disclosed this to everyone, but nobody knows the truthfulness of this.”    

On the alliance issue, Mr Pawar said that the country wants a change and all the Opposition parties should come together. “As the situations in all the states are different, we are trying to forge an alliance in each state as per its needs. We don’t need to declare our leader at present and will declare it after the election,” he added.