MUMBAI:
Maharashtra politicians seem to have plummeted to new lows and nearly bared each other's "chaddis" to gain points over their opponents.
The first soft tug at the undergarment was made by NCP chief Sharad Pawar (78) at a rally in Madha on Sunday. Pawar l hit out at senior NCP leader Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, whose son Ranjitsinh has crossed over to BJP. Last week, Mohite-Patil senior attended PM Narendra Modi's rally in Solapur.
"Now that you went there, I have nothing to say. But next time, don't go there clad in half chaddies. Don't compel us to see your thighs and legs... Exercise caution... What will the people think?" Pawar said amid cheers and catcalls.
The taunt was at the RSS, whose members are often referred as 'khaki chaddiwalas'. A livid Mohite-Patil (75) hit back. He asked "why the 'langoti-clad pehelwan' of
Baramati
ran away from the election arena" if he was not scared of 'chaddiwalas'. CM
Devendra Fadnavis too jumped in by helpfully pointing out that the so-called "chaddi had given way to trousers long back (2016)".
"Don't forget... it was with the support of these 'chaddiwalas' that you became CM the first time (1978)," Fadnavis said, adding that May 23 will decide whose "chaddi" remains.
MNS president Raj Thackeray went beyond 'chaddis' last week at a meeting where he played a video where Modi is seen announcing how 8,50,000 public toilets were built in a week in Bihar. "As per our calculations, the figure comes to seven toilets built per five seconds... You don't even 'get it out' so quickly," Thackeray said, sending the audiences in peals of laughter. ians