The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction on Monday dismissed as “fake” a copy of the NCP chief’s caste certificate which has gone viral. Mr. Pawar is shown as belonging to the other backward class (OBC).
NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) state chief Jayant Patil called the move a ploy to defame Pawar and mislead the public about the 82-year-old Mr. Pawar, while MP Supriya Sule (Mr. Pawar’s daughter), said it was an immature attempt to tarnish her father’s image.
Noting that the phoney certificate was in English, Ms. Sule said when her father was studying in class 10, there were no English medium schools in the area.
“It has become a big thing these days to create such fake certificates. It is really childish to circulate such documents and make allegations,” said Ms. Sule, MP from Baramati, the stronghold of the Pawar clan.
Mr. Pawar, who became Maharashtra’s youngest CM at age 38 in 1978, has helmed the State in that capacity a total four times. He also held vital union Cabinet portfolios like Defence and Agriculture in Congress-led governments at the Centre.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pawar’s grand-nephew, MLA Rohit Pawar, accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of being involved in the circulation of fake documents.
“Circulating such documents is part of the culture within the BJP as they don’t know the truth,” alleged Rohit, remarking that the BJP’s “troll army” was behind the spread of these documents on social media.
