New Delhi:
If poll pundits analyse the Satara verdict, the exact moment this seat was swayed in NCP favour was when 80-year-old political stalwart Sharad Pawar stood in rain to deliver a powerful speech. On October 19, the chief of the Nationalist Congress party stood in rain to finish his speech and send out a blunt message to the BJP. Result, NCP has almost won Satara. As of current trends, Shivaji's descendant Udayanraje Bhosale and the BJP candidate is trailing in the Lok Sabha bypolls. Pawar had ‘admitted’ his mistake in selection of the candidate from the constituency in the Lok Sabha Elections. "When one makes a mistake, one should admit it. I made a mistake while selecting candidate for the Lok Sabha poll. I accept this publicly. But I am happy that to correct the mistake, every young and old person in Satara is waiting for October 21," Pawar said at the rally while it was pouring.
It was in connection with Udyanraje Bhosale, a descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji, who was NCP candidate in the Lok Sabha Elections. He won the seat but later quit the NCP to join the BJP. The Satara bypolls were necessitated due to this reason. This time, Bhonsle is BJP’s candidate in Maharashtra Assembly Elections, while NCP is represented by Shrinivas Patil, a former Governor and two-time member of Parliament.
Pawar’s searing retort came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a sharp swipe at the NCP chief and said that, “they don't even have the courage to contest even Lok Sabha elections from Satara." Pawar’s speech in rain photo is being shared widely on social media. On Twitter, NCP vice-president Dr Rajendra Shingne shared the photo from the rally with a heart-felt message. “I am proud of the fact that I am his (Sharad Pawar’s) loyal worker. Yesterday’s address left me speechless. It was a sea of inspiration. It gave encouragement and power to fight against the ‘zulmi’ government from Delhi. #saheb.” Supriya Sule, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and MP, also shared the photo with a powerful message. “History was created in soil of Satara. Despite storm and rain, we received renewed energy from Saheb’s speech.”
Twitter was also praising Pawar’s zeal. “"Not all battles are fought for Victory. Some are fought simply to tell the world that someone was there on the battlefield" Take a Bow #SharadPawar,” a Twitter user said. Maharashtra and Haryana go to polls on October 21. The counting of votes will take place on October 24.
