Sharad Pawar calls for unity, takes dig at PM Modi

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the Pulwama terror attack was an attack on the nation andthere should be no attempts to politicise the issue. The former Union minister also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over some of the latter’s statements after such attacks during the Congress-led UPA regime.

Speaking to reporters on home turf Baramati in Pune district, Pawar called Thursday’s attack on the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir as an attack on the nation. “I can remember, Prime Minister Modi, before coming to power, used to say in his election rallies that (then PM) Manmohan Singh’s government had failed to teach Pakistan a lesson (after such attacks).

“He (Modi) used to say the Manmohan Singh government did not have ability to teach a lesson (to Pakistan). He also used to remark that only those with a 56-inch chest could administer a tough lesson to Pakistan,” Pawar said. Modi, in his rallies, used to exhort people to replace the UPA government with that of the BJP so that Pakistan could be given a befitting reply for such terror attacks, Pawar told reporters. “But everyone has seen what has happened now. But today I will not repeat that same demand which he (Modi) had made (at that time),” Pawar said.