PUNE: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday bemoaned the tendency of politicians to approach the public just before the polls and urged party workers to take a page or two out of the RSS book and show perseverance in reaching out to voters.
"I do not say we have to do everything the RSS workers does, but we can certainly learn from their determination and persistence while reaching out to voters," he said. Recalling his conversation with a BJP leader, Pawar said, "He told me that your party workers go to peoples' houses and if nobody is home they drop the party's pamphlet at the doorstep and leave.
"But if an RSS worker working for the party (BJP) finds the door closed in the morning, he will visit that house again in the evening. If it is still closed, he will go to the same house the next morning and will ensure that he meets the residents and hand over the pamphlet," he said.Pawar also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sojourn in a cave at Kedarnath.
"We should see where the entire world is heading, where science is heading, but our Prime Minister (instead) prefers to go to a cave and meditate," the former Union minister said. At a press conference later, Pawar was asked about his refusal to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Modi government, reportedly because he was offered a seat in the fifth row. "My secretary went to the President's office twice and both times, he was told that the 'V' on the pass meant the fifth row. Now a clarification has come (from the president's office) that it meant the VVIP row....for me, the chapter is closed," he said.
