Known for his controversial statements, BJP MLC Gopichnad Padalkar has stoked a controversy once again. Speaking with the media in Nashik, Padalkar said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar should sit at home as he has become old.
Continuation of criticism for the Chondi visit by Pawars
He also asked why Pawars (Sharad Pawar and Rohit Pawar) visited Chondi, ABP Maza reported.
For the uninitiated, Ahilya Bai Holkar was born in Chondi village in Ahmednagar district on May 31, 1725. Padalkar and his followers celebrated Ahilyabai’s birth anniversary at Chondi in Ahmednagar district on May 31. However, common people were restricted from entering the village, he had alleged.
“The common public was stopped by police from visiting Chondi as Sharad Pawar and his grandson Rohit were too present there. It is outrageous that Pawar supports Nawab Malik on one hand who has connections with Dawood Ibrahim and on the other hand, he treats the Ahilyabai’s birth anniversary as an event to launch his grandson,” Padalkar had said.
Earlier in 2020, he had stoked a controversy by calling Sharad Pawar the ‘corona’ that has infected Maharashtra. Padalkar also accused the former union minister of politicising the long-pending issue of reservation for the Dhangar (shepherd) community.
In 2019, Padalkar jumped ship to Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and contested the state assembly elections from Sangli before joining BJP and losing to Pawar’s nephew and DCM Ajit Pawar from Baramati.
