Ahead of the Kasba Peth and Chinchwad assembly bypolls in Pune district, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said the Bharatiya Janata Party gives a communal colour to the political discourse when it is not confident of winning.
Talking to reporters here, the senior NCP leader said it is not new for the BJP to divert attention towards communal issues if it is not confident of a victory.
Bypolls to the Kasba Peth and Chinchwad constituencies, scheduled to be held on February 26, were necessitated following the death of BJP legislators Mukta Tilak and Laxman Jagtap respectively.
In Kasba Peth, Congress’ Ravindra Dhangekar faces BJP’s Hemant Rasane, while NCP’s Nana Kate will take on the saffron party’s Ashwini Jagtap in Chinchwad. Dhangekar and Kate are backed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising the Uddhav Thackeray camp, Congress and the NCP.
Pawar alleged that the Eknath Shinde-BJP ruling alliance is spending huge money for the bypolls.
With inputs from News18