What happened to Rs 70,000 crore scam by NCP? Uddhav takes dig at Modi as Sharad Pawar to be chief guest at award event

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments on a "Rs 70,000 crore scam" by NCP, a day after a Pune trust selected the PM for Tilak National award and invited Sharad Pawar for the August 1 function as chief guest.

Prominent among the invitees is Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, who joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra as deputy chief minister on July 2 while eight MLAs of his camp were sworn in as ministers.

“What happened to the Rs 70,000 crore scam? Who all will be there on the stage? That (the NCP) party is with you,” Thackeray told reporters.

Addressing booth workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bhopal last month, Modi had said there were allegations of scams of nearly Rs 70,000 crore against NCP, including the Maharashtra Cooperative Bank scam, irrigation scam and illegal mining scam.

Slamming the BJP-led Centre over the alleged misuse of probe agencies to target Opposition parties, Thackeray said, “Time is cruel. When it turns against them, it will be difficult for them”.

PM Modi will be conferred with Lokmanya Tilak National Award in Pune on August 1, the 103rd death anniversary of Lokmanya Tilak. Sharad Pawar has been invited to the award ceremony as the chief guest, Trust president Deepak Tilak said in a release on Monday.

Modi has been selected for the award, comprising a memento and citation, in recognition of his "supreme leadership and for awakening the feeling of patriotism among citizens".

Other invitees include Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.