By quitting, Sharad Pawar exposed fence-sitters within NCP: Saamna

MUMBAI: Terming NCP chief Sharad Pawar "the hero of the developments following his decision to resign," Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamna on Thursday said some NCP leaders, who were sitting on the fence and lamented the most after the resignation, had been exposed by this move.

Saamna said in an editorial that those who fell at Pawar's feet and had tears in their eyes after he announced his resignation "have one foot in BJP." If such people were going to drag him down in the days to come, "he has torn their masks." Sena said that though Pawar "is the Bhishma of politics, he is not lying on a bed of arrows in battle and has instead shown that he still calls the shots." Saamna wondered if Pawar had taken the step to stop Ajit Pawar and his group from going their own way.

Saamna wrote, "A faction in NCP is on the verge of joining BJP and in an atmosphere where an earthquake could happen in state politics at any time, Pawar resigned and created an earthquake. Is the reason for the resignation the uneasiness created by investigating agencies like ED in the party and the path to BJP chosen by colleagues out of that uneasiness? Some leaders who are on the fence lamented the most after Pawar's resignation. Sharad Pawar resigned and exposed everyone."