NCP chief Sharad Pawar Wednesday continued to hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his failure to attend the all-party meeting called by the NDA government in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack.
He said instead of attending the meeting, Modi addressed other public events on the same day, which was "not right".
Modi was in Yavatmal and Dhule districts of Maharashtra on February 16 to launch several projects.
Addressing the first joint rally of the Congress, NCP and other opposition parties in Nanded ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Pawar said all the parties stood behind the Centre after the attack, but it allegedly did not take note of it.
He added that the "ghost" of Rafale fighter jet purchase issue will "bury the government" and that the leaders of the government would be left with no place to hide their faces once corruption in the deal is established.
The all-party meeting was convened on February 16. Political parties put up a united face then as they underlined India's determination to fight terrorism following the attack and expressed their solidarity with security forces in defending the country's unity and integrity.
Forty CRPF jawans died on February 14 after a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the paramilitary force's convoy in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.
"We all came together, attended the meeting. I left all my work and went to Delhi for the meeting. And what I saw there? The prime minister not present for such a big meeting. The prime minister was not present," Pawar said.
"All the party leaders were there. But not of the BJP which is ruling the country, which runs the government, and has powers to take decision," he added.
The NCP chief said the opposition parties did not politicise the issue of the prime minister's "absence" at the meeting in view of the attack.
"We gave confidence to the government (that the opposition stood behind it). But how much note the government took of it?" Pawar asked.
"We sat in Delhi, discussed what could be done for the jawans. And the prime minister was busy giving speeches in Dhule and Yavatmal on some other issues. This is not right," he added. He had targeted the PM on the same issue while talking to reporters in Pune on Tuesday.
Pawar praised the previous government in dealing with Pakistan when it become aggressive along the border.
He also lauded late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi saying that she created a "new geography" by dividing Pakistan (leading to creation of present-day Bangladesh in 1971).
"She showed her mettle. Showed to the world that India was not weak," Pawar said as he expressed concerns over the deaths of soldiers under the BJP's watch.
Hitting out at the Centre over escalation in the prices of Rafale jets during the NDA regime vis--vis previous UPA government, Pawar said where has the money gone under the watch of Modi, who talks of not allowing corruption.
"The ghost of Rafale will bury this government...its leaders will have no place to hide their faces once corruption in the deal is established," he added.
The former Union Agriculture Minister also hit out at the government over the agrarian issues, like farm loan waiver and farmers not getting fair prices for their produces.
Among other things, Pawar slammed the government for allegedly destroying institutions like the judiciary, RBI and CBI.
The rally was also attended by Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan, NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal, Dhananjay Munde, People's Republic Party president Jogendra Kawade, PWP leader Jayant Patil and others.
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