Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) leader Sanjay Raut has sparked a fresh controversy by equating the Bharatiya Janata Party with the terror organisation Hamas. Reacting to a comment from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on NCP Chief Sharad Pawar's remarks on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Sanjay Raut said on Thursday that the party Assam CM belongs to is no less than 'Hamas'.
"The party he (Assam CM) belongs to is no less than Hamas, it is misusing the central agencies, and destroying the Opposition. He should first read and understand history. He is a part of the BJP and should know former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's stand on Palestine-Israel," said Sanjay Raut, as quoted by the news agency ANI.
This comes after Himanta Biswa Sarma launched an attack on Sharad Pawar and his daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule. On being questioned about Pawar’s speech, Sarma said, "I think Sharad Pawar will send Supriya (Sule) to Gaza to fight for Hamas". Responding to Sarma, Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule today said the BJP needed to hear Sharad Pawat's speech carefully before making such a comment.
"I am surprised because Himanta Biswa Sarma has the same DNA as me, he is originally from Congress. He and I share the same Congress DNA. You know how the BJP is disrespectful towards women. But I had hopes from Himanta Biswa Sarma. I am surprised how this change has happened towards women, and the approach, probably going into BJP is a little rubbing off on him...BJP IT cell needs to understand and hear carefully what Sharad Pawar has said. Hear his entire statement," she said, as quoted by ANI.
Earlier on October 15, while addressing party workers in Mumbai, the NCP supremo said that the role of former Prime Ministers of India was "to help Palestine".
"The role of Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was to help Palestine. For the first time, the Prime Minister of this country supported the role of Israel. The stand of the NCP should be clear. We stand by the people who originally belonged to that land," Pawar said while speaking in Mumbai.
The BJP slammed Sharad Pawar’s speech, and Union Minister Piyush Goel dubbed it a rotten mindset. "It is a pity that a person who has been India's Defence Minister as well as a Chief Minister many times has such a casual view of issues relating to terror," he posted on X. "Pawar ji was a part of the same Government that shed tears on the Batla House encounter and slept while there were terror attacks on Indian soil. This rotten mindset has to stop. I hope Pawar ji at least now, thinks of the nation first," he said further.