NCP leaders should learn from Pankaja Munde, says Shiv Sena

Taking a jibe at the NCP leadership in the backdrop of Pankaja Munde's visit to beleaguered former Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal in a hospital, the Shiv Sena yesterday said Sharad Pawar should take "lessons on humanity" from the state Women and Child Development Minister.

Bhujbal, in judicial custody in an alleged money laundering case, is currently recuperating at state-run J J hospital after he fell ill a few days ago. The senior NCP leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March and was lodged in the Arthur Road Jail.

Mouthpiece says
"We feel sorry for the state Bhujbal is in today. The NCP, for which Bhujbal wronged late Sena chief Bal Thackeray, has today left him in the lurch. We thus feel surprised at Pankaja Munde's courage to visit him in the hospital and inquire about his health," an editorial in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' said, which also has allusions to Bhujbal's days as a hard-core Shiv Sena leader before joining the NCP.

"Everyone was praising Bhujbal in his 'acche din' (good days). All his bosses were in awe of speeches he made in the Legislature. But today nobody had gone to meet a tired Bhujbal," the editorial said. The Sena said late BJP leader Gopinath Munde would have shown the same courage as Pankaja (his daughter) had displayed by visiting Bhujbal.

"Everyone has to pay a price for their wrongdoings. But, what is the harm in keeping humanity alive? (NCP leaders) (Praful) Patel, (Sharad) Pawar and (Sunil) Tatkare should learn something from Pankaja," the Sena said. Pankaja called on Bhujbal on Wednesday and spent around half-an-hour with him.