MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday expressed disapproval about the "new type of discourse" in politics, referring to a phrase that refers to disembowelment.
The Marathi word `kothala' (intestines) was recently used by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut figuratively while rebutting former Sena ally BJP's accusation of `stabbing in the back'.
Pawar was speaking at the inauguration of an art gallery named for late socialist leader Mrinal Gore in suburban Goregaon.
"When Mrinal-tai was the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, I faced severe criticism (from her), but we would set aside our differences after the session was over. We would discuss issues related to the welfare of the state," Pawar said.
"Nobody in those days would use words like 'kothala'.
Now a days, one is seeing a different type of discourse," he added.
Raut, who is incidentally considered to be close to Pawar, had said during a function on September 4 that Shiv Sena does not stab in the back; it attacks from the front and "disembowels" the enemy.
He was responding to Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil's jibe that `back-stabbing' is now associated with a new face.
Patil was apparently referring to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray who severed ties with the BJP in 2019 and formed alliance with NCP and Congress.
Pawar had in the past faced allegations of "back-stabbing" when he defected and pulled down a Congress government led by Vasant Dada Patil in 1978 and became the youngest chief minister of Maharashtra by forming alliance with other parties.