Maharashtra minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chandrashekhar Bawankule has said that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar should refrain from criticising the saffron outfit and not force it to open 'pages from the past'.
Addressing a press conference in Pune on Tuesday, Bawankule reminded Pawar of the mutual decision taken in the coordination committee of Mahayuti before the civic polls that even if alliance partners contest the polls separately, they will not criticise each other during campaigning.
Elections to various municipal corporations in the state are scheduled on January 15.
"I expected that Pawar would abide by that mutual understanding. On the other hand, if you see, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (of BJP) is following that rule as he is not criticising Pawar's party (Nationalist Congress Party) or Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena," Bawankule said.
"I just want to say that there are pages from the past and no one wants to go back (to them). Ajit dada is one of the three key leaders in Mahayuti and I hope he will not criticise the BJP or other alliance partners," he stated.
Asked about Pawar targeting the BJP's leadership in Pune over development issues, the minister said the NCP president is a politician of high stature and he should not stoop low to criticise the lower leadership of a party.
On Pawar's remarks that he is sitting in the Mahayuti with those who once levelled allegations against him in the Rs 70,000-crore irrigation scam and on whether there were indeed irregularities, Bawankule noted the case about the alleged scam was still pending in court.
"Once the verdict comes, the truth will come out," he added.
The minister said that as an Opposition party then, the BJP had levelled allegations based on available evidence at the time.
Asked whether the BJP will make the Mundhwa land deal of Pune an election issue, he said the government-appointed inquiry committee is in the final stages of preparing its report and it would not be appropriate to treat it as a poll matter.
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