Pawar talks pump in Naik’s backyard

With the opinion polls predicting that the gap between the NDA and the Congress-led front is narrowing, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today set out...

With the opinion polls predicting that the gap between the NDA and the Congress-led front is narrowing, NCP chief Sharad Pawar today set out on another round of campaigning and made the Prime Minister his prime target.

Addressing a rally at Borivli in support of Bollywood actor Govinda, Pawar alleged that Vajpayee always chose to ignore the misdeeds of his Cabinet members. ‘‘Lakhs of investors suffered in the UTI scam but Vajpayee preferred to keep mum. One after another, his colleagues in the Cabinet were found involved in scams, but the Prime Minister looked the other way,’’ he said.

Referring to the petrol pump allotment scam, Pawar said Vajpayee did not bother to take action against the persons involved and the Petroleum Minister is contesting the elections again.

The rally was held in the North Mumbai constituency of Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik. Pawar also criticised the NDA Government on its foreign policy. ‘‘Right from Nehru to Chandrashekhar, successive prime ministers have maintained India’s identity as the leader of non-aligned nations. The NDA Government destroyed it by siding with the US,’’ he said.

Addressing the rally, Govinda attacked Opposition leaders for criticising Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.