NEW DELHI: In a significant development, Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar threw in his weight behind the growing demand within the Congress fora debate on the alienation of the minorities in the wake of the Ottapalam by election defeat.
Pawar talking to reporters here on Sept.15 indicated the need for the Congress to address the disquiet among the minorities. The Maratha supremo in fact recalled that he had pointed out the attitude of the minorities in the case of by elections to the Maharashtra State assembly earlier this year, when the Congress retained only one seat losing two others to the Opposition.
“We got minority support only in those areas where there was a straight fight between Congress and communal forces,” Pawar said.
Pawar’s remarks assumed significance in the wake of the Ottapalam defeat for which the: Kerala Chief Minister K.Karunakaran placed the blame squarely on the Center’s door. The Prime Minister’s principal challenger Arjun Singh had set the ball rolling in demanding that the Congress apologize to the minorities for the demolition of the Babri structure Ghulam Nabi Azad had expressed similar views.
The Congress spokesman lashed out at Kalyan Singh for declaring that if the BJP came to the power, it would wipe out Pakistan from the world map. After the Ayodhya demolition, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister “has come to believe that he can wipe out not only structures but also entire countries from the face of the earth,” the spokesman said.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 24, 1993
