Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Saturday said that he had to cancel his programmes a day earlier as he was unwell, and criticised the media for speculating on the matter.
On Friday, some media reports said that Pawar, along with seven NCP MLAs, had gone missing, and questioned whether the development had any implications on the stability of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra. Apart from the NCP, the alliance comprises the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Congress.
Pawar, a former Maharashtra deputy chief minister, said on Saturday that he had been touring the state for the past few days and fell ill due to his hectic schedule. “But the media claimed that I was ‘not reachable’, due to which I was unnecessarily defamed,” he said.
Pawar said that the media has the right to report about him as he is a public figure, but that it should not spread misinformation. “There is a limit to how much a person should be defamed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the NCP leader praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s recent electoral successes. “Under PM Modi’s name, the party which only two MPs earlier reached remote places and came in power with full majority. So isn’t it PM Modi’s magic?” he asked, according to ANI.
On April 3, Pawar had said that it was not fair to question Modi on his educational qualifications. He said that people had voted for the prime minister due to his charisma, and not his degree.
This was after the Gujarat High Court set aside an order of the Central Information Commission directing the Gujarat University to provide information about the prime minister’s degree to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The High Court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Aam Aadmi Party.
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