‘Do not want to quarrel with Sena UBT on this, says Sharad Pawar, terms Neelam Gorhe’s statement ‘foolish’

Speaking at the 98th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (All India Marathi Literature Festival) held in Delhi on February 22, Gorhe said, “It is a fact that if you give two Mercedes cars, you get a post in Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.” She added that its chief Uddhav Thackeray was reluctant to meet party leaders and would not treat functionaries well.

Gorhe, who is also the Deputy Chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, had joined the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena after the party split in June 2022.

His ally and Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut said Monday that Pawar should protest against her remarks as he heads the reception committee of the festival. “Even Sharad Pawar cannot shirk his responsibility… He was the chairman of the event’s reception committee. He is equally responsible for the programme that was planned and the political mudslinging that took place. Pawar should express his protest. How can he remain silent? We stand up when mudslinging is done against him,” Raut said.

Acknowledging Raut’s remarks, Sharad Pawar said, “If he thinks that I should also take the responsibility for this, then I do not intend to quarrel over it.” The NCP(SP) leader added that since the organisers of the event have apologised for the political controversy, curtains should be drawn on it.

Responding to Gorhe’s allegations, Sena UBT had stated that Gorhe was made a Legislative Council member four times despite opposition from the party’s women’s wing. Uddhav Thackeray said Sunday, “Show me where those cars are. These individuals are politically irrelevant to me, and I do not wish to comment further… Those who travel in Mercedes should answer why they have not given the monthly instalments of the Ladki Bahin scheme.”

Raut had also sought an explanation from the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal, the event’s organisers, over the appropriateness of making political comments at a literary gathering. In a letter to Usha Tambe, its chairperson, he said, “It appears that the event was held under political pressure. The platform of the Sahitya Mahamandal was grossly misused.”

Clarifying her remarks, Gorhe had said, “What I have stated is my own experience and the observations I made about some people who were asked to give something in return for posts in the party.”

Commenting on the controversy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that he cannot comment on what was happening in her party. “I was not in her party. Therefore I cannot comment on it,” he said.