Pawar losing power; Congress did 'paap': Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the NCP supremo is losing control of the party.

Lashing out at Pawar and his family, including his nephew and former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, the prime minister, in his first election rally at Wardha in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, said the seasoned politician had to back out from the Lok Sabha polls.

He also said the most senior leaders of the party are being retired.

Lashing out at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused it of branding peace-loving Hindus as terrorists.

"What they did was 'paap' (sin)... people of the country will not forgive them... tell me... can they be forgiven," Modi asked the crowd while addressing a mammoth rally of the BJP- and Shiv Sena-led five-party alliance in Wardha in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

He also called the erstwhile Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra as "Kumbhakarna", the younger brother of mythological demon king Ravana.

"The Congress-NCP government was like Kumbhakarna. They used to sleep for six months, get up, commit one scam and go to sleep again," he said, adding that "there were scams everythere" whether it was in irrigation, stamp papers, real estate or tenders.

Modi said that farmers suffered during the tenure of the UPA government when Pawar was Union agriculture minister.

"In Maval, their government opened fire on farmers," said Pawar referring to the 2011 incident, in which three farmers were killed.

"Leaders (of the Congress) are now scared of contesting from constituencies dominated by the majority (Hindu) population," Modi said, in what was an apparent reference to Congress president Rahul Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Wayanad in Kerala, besides Amethi, the traditional Gandhi family seat.

Hitting back at Modi, Congress said the prime minister should speak about real issues.

The NCP took exception to the statements on Sharad Pawar and his family, and about senior leaders being retired.

"What is he speaking about? Leaders like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha were sidelined by the party... and what family is he talking about?" NCP MLC and senior leader Dr Jitendra Awhad said.