Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court verdict in the Bilkis Bano case saying the decision has provided support to women and the common man.
He also appealed to the Maharashtra government to take seriously the case of Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and her seven family members murdered in 2002, and keep in mind what the Supreme Court has said about the "heinous crime".
The Supreme Court on Monday directed 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case to surrender within two weeks. Addressing a media conference at the regional office of the Nationalist Congress Party in Mumbai, Sharad Pawar said, "The entire background of the Supreme Court's verdict in Bilkis Bano's case, in which seven persons were killed and a sister was raped, is from Gujarat."
"There was a delay in the verdict, but the decision taken by the Supreme Court was very correct. Yesterday's results have proved the work of providing a kind of support to the women class and the common man. The Gujarat government took a decision to commute the punishment of the criminals and the Supreme Court said that the decision should be taken by the Maharashtra government and the case took place in Maharashtra," Pawar added.
The NCP chief and former Union Defence Minister also spoke on a range of topics during the media conference. "A joint meeting of NCP, Congress, the Shiv Sena, Prakash Ambedkar and other parties will be held in Delhi today. The meeting will generally discuss how to work together in connection with the upcoming elections. Jitendra Awhad from the NCP will be present for the meeting and I have advised him that you should make a stand on behalf of the party," he added.
"There are 48 (Lok Sabha) seats in Maharashtra. Every party has a demand, but the result has to be experimental. In today's meeting leaders from the party will present the position to include Prakash Ambedkar in the alliance, but I will also present the position in the INDIA (alliance) meeting. The Congress has more seats in the Lok Sabha currently; Congress may also win more seats," he added.
The former Maharashtra Chief Minister also took a swipe at the Narendra Modi government over the misuse of the Enforcement Directorate.
"Until the government in Delhi changes, ED raids will continue. Whether it is Ravindra Waikar or Rohit Pawar, this happens because people in power want to do it," he added.
"Elections are around the corner. There is a problem with the symbol and name, so we are also waiting for the result from the Election Commission," he said.
Recently, Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar, who deserted from the party and is currently the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, had taken a jibe at him over his age. Sharad Pawar responded by saying, "If they think it is right for them to raise the issue of age, I don't want to say anything about their raising it. Now to talk about me, I came to Parliament in 1967. Sometimes I work in the Legislature and sometimes in the Parliament of the country and in all this time, even the opponents have never criticized my power, the way of working, and if it is a question of age and efficiency, I can say that about many people - Morarji Desai, he was a Prime Minister, working in Parliament, he had the majority of the people behind him and so I don't want to talk about such things," he concluded.
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