Wrong words, but Padalkar has respect for Pawar: BJP leader Chandrakant Patil

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Thursday said his party colleague Gopichand Padalkar did not have any disrespect towards NCP president Sharad Pawar even if the words chosen by him to criticise the latter were wrong.

Padalkar, an MLC, had on Wednesday termed Pawar as "corona" that has infected Maharashtra and accused him of doing politics over the issue of reservation for the Dhangar (shepherd) community, drawing swift condemnation from the NCP, which is part of the Shiv Sena-led government in the state.

Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, Patil said Padalkar is a wise 'karyakarta' (worker) of the BJP.

"Gopichand is such a sensible 'karyakarta' that even if his words were wrong, he does not have any disrespect towards Pawar Saheb. In fact,he has respect for him. In his statement, he (Padalkar) had said that Pawar saheb did not give justice to lower classes," he said.

"It was his own opinion drawn from experience he may have had, but his intention was not to disrespect Pawar," the former Maharashtra minister said.

Patil said quite often someone gets up and speaks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in fact nicknames have been given to former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and even to him.

"It does not affect me but this is not Maharashtra's culture," he added.