Pawar: If Koshyari has self-respect he will quit

Mumbai : Targeting Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said anybody with self-respect will not continue in the post. Talking to reporters in Osmanabad district, Pawar said Union Home Minister Amit Shah has also said that certain use of words could have been avoided in the letter.

"Anyone with self-respect will not continue in the post. Who are we to make any demand," Pawar said.

"After the Union home minister's statement expressing disappointment over language in the letter, anybody with self- respect will take a call on whether to continue in the post or not," he added.

Koshyari recently wrote to Thackeray on reopening places of worship in the state and asked if the Shiv Sena president had "suddenly turned secular," triggering a war of words between the governor and the chief minister. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday told a news channel that "Koshyari could have chosen his words better".

Asked about speculations that senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse may join the NCP, Pawar said Khadse was earlier the leader of opposition and played a huge role in building the BJP in the state. "He would criticise us and we would take note of it," the NCP chief said.

"One is bound to feel disturbed if his contributions and hard work are not taken note of. He may think why shouldn't he shift to a party which appreciates his work," he said.

Khadse has been sulking since he was made to resign as a minister in the then BJP government in 2016 on allegations of corruption.