Ajit Pawar was speaking to reporters after reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the Satara

Satara:

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday took a swipe at BJP legislator Gopichand Padalkar over his controversial comment about NCP chief Sharad Pawar.

Mr Padalkar, a member of the state Legislative Council, is under fire over his alleged remark that “(Sharad) Pawar was a corona that has infected Maharashtra”.

“Every person should speak keeping in mind his own worth. People should respect each other. This is our culture. This is what late Yashwantrao Chavan (first chief minister of Maharashtra) taught us and we should adhere to it,” Ajit Pawar said.

The senior NCP leader who is a nephew of Sharad Pawar was speaking to reporters after reviewing the COVID-19 situation in the Satara district.

“You can check what he (Padalkar) had said about (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi in the past,” Ajit Pawar further said, apparently referring to Mr Padalkar’s alleged statements when he was not with the BJP.

Mr Padalkar had lost his deposit from the Baramati Assembly segment in the election last year, said Mr Pawar, who had defeated him.

Ajit Pawar also recalled BJP leader Arun Jaitley’s comment that the whole country will be developed if it has 100 towns like Baramati, a bastion of the Pawar family.

“He (Jaitley) was seen as second-in-command after Modi. All respect (Sharad) Pawar saheb. Some cheap people think they will become famous by talking against big people,” the deputy chief minister said.

Mr Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, also informed that he had instructed the authorities to set up a COVID-19 testing laboratory in Satara district hospital in the next three to four days.