Mumbai: Maratha strongman and National Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday gave a fitting reply to the BJP’s repeated jibes at Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Many BJP leaders alleged that Uddhav was “working from home” instead of going out on the field to tackle the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. However, the Maratha strongman slammed the BJP critics saying Uddhav was doing a commendable job. “The whole of Maharashtra is in a crisis. Therefore, if the Chief Minister goes and sits in one district, it will be difficult to take immediate decisions on the problems of other districts.
Following our request, Captain (CM Thackeray) is keeping an eye on the situation and working very hard to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. He is coordinating with his team and all the concerned agencies,” Pawar said. He was speaking after reviewing the Covid-19 situation at the state tourist capital Aurangabad here on Saturday. Pawar said the situation that arose after the Latur earthquake in 1993 and the present coronavirus pandemic could not be compared. ‘’At that time, as the state CM it was possible for me to travel there as it was limited to Latur However, the Covid- 19 crisis is spread across the state. It is important to work from one place,” he stressed. Pawar, who was in Nashik on Friday to review the implementation of the Covid-19 containment strategy there said that after returning to Mumbai, he would brief the CM of the ground reality.
This will help the CM to take decisions and curb the spread of the virus and restore normalcy. Pawar’s strong defence comes at a time when not only is the BJP personally targeting Thackeray, but also when differences among the ruling partners Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress have surfaced over a number of issues. Pawar reiterated that it makes no sense for the CM to visit every district. As a ‘Captain’ it is important to be stationed at one place and control and coordinate everything. Pawar’s statement coincided with Thackeray’s interview in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna, in which he strongly defended functioning from home.
The CM said that there was no need to travel to monitor the state as it helps him keep an eye on the entire state. He stated he was taking timely decisions via technology. Thackeray took a swipe at the Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis saying, “Travelling without studying the issue and studying the issue without travel. You decide what you want out of the two.” Meanwhile, Pawar said the situation in parts of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka is worrisome.
He referred to the surge in cases in Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Kalyan-Dombivali. Referring to the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, Pawar said the district collector can take action against private medical practitioners and doctors for not coming forward to treat Covid-19 patients.
