PUNE, January 29: Congress leader Sharad Pawar today fired a salvo at his one time protege, Suresh Kalmadi, stating it would be interesting to watch how Puneites respond to someone sitting at the doorsteps of Bal Thackeray and Manohar Joshi for Shiv Sena support.``Kalmadi's sudden change in attitude gains much significance since he was not ready to ``beg'' for the Congress candidature,'' he averred rather sarcastically.
The former railway minister was reportedly going around town saying that Puneites would not have liked him standing in a queue at the Congress doorsteps for nomination by forsaking self-respect, Pawar pointed out to mediapersons.
Later, the Congress leader, accompanied by AICC spokesman V N Gadgil and Opposition leader in State Council Chhagan Bhujbal, left for Satara where he launched the Congress' electioneering in western Maharashtra at a public rally.
Taking pot-shots at the Indian Air Force pilot-turned-politician, Pawar did not forget to mention that Kalmadi himself was a memberof the Congress committee selecting the Lok Sabha candidates. ``He (Kalmadi) was in a position to grant tickets even to others,'' Pawar said.
When asked to comment on Thackeray comparing Kalmadi to a ``frog'' and a ``beggar moving in a Mercedes'', Pawar quipped that it would mean little, because Kalmadi was known to manage Thackeray's shakha pramukhs in Pune.Pawar welcomed Kalmadi's undertaking to campaign for BJP-Sena in Baramati constituency. ``He should come to Baramati, he knows every household there,'' Pawar remarked apparently in a lighter vein.
The former chief minister refused to take lightly former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anna Joshi's threat to plunge in the electoral arena. ``Joshi is a well-known personality in local political circles. His contesting the election could pose difficulties even for the Congress,'' Pawar said.
Pawar scoffed at Sena president Bal Thackeray calling Sonia Gandhi ``a white skinned lady.'' She was out for the sake of the Congress party, sans any politicalambitions, he said adding that such criticism against her was unwarranted. Thackeray's remarks have once again bared his culture, he added.
Dharmadhikari in fray
Bureaucrat-turned-social activist Avinash Dharmadhikari has finally decided to contest the Lok Sabha election from Pune. Dharmadhikari told The Indian Express that he would fight the election as an independent irrespective of Anna Joshi's resignation. Dharmadhikari said he would take the two vital issues during the campaign - corruption and criminalisation of politics and was planning to come out with citizens' manifesto.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
