Mumbai: Just weeks after he rebuked a young woman IPS officer taking action against illegal sand mining, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has found himself in the centre of a controversy once again. This time for snapping at a farmer in Marathwada who lost his crop in the floods.
Pawar was meeting farmers affected by the floods at a village in Bhoom-Paranda taluk of Dharashiv district. When a farmer asked him if the government would declare a loan waiver for them, the deputy CM said: “Why don’t we make him the chief minister? Don’t you think we understand? Are we here to play gottya (marbles)? I have been working since 6 am. You are trying to suppress (the voice of) those who are working.”
He added: “I am here to console you all. I have to go to another place as well. We understand what’s happening. We are giving Rs 45,000 crore under the Ladki Bahin scheme. We have waived electricity charges for farmers, we are paying those bills.”
The Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) chief then said he had rushed to Bhoom-Paranda after receiving information about the situation. “We can pretend about many things, but it is difficult to pretend about monetary status,” he told the farmers.
Parts of Maharashtra, particularly districts in Marathwada, have been reeling under floods since 20 September. Heavy rains and swollen rivers have caused large-scale damage, claiming at least nine lives. Crops on more than 30,000 hectares were damaged, according to the state government, which announced Rs 2,215 crore in aid.
This is not the first time Pawar has courted controversy. Earlier this month, he faced criticism after a video of IPS officer Anjana Krishna on a phone call with him went viral. On the call, Pawar purportedly chided when she was taking action against illegal soil excavation in a Solapur village. “Itna aapko daring hua kya? … Main tere upar action lunga (How come you are acting in such a daring way? I will take action on you),” he purportedly said over the phone.
Party leaders had then defended Pawar, saying it was simply “his style of speaking”.
Then in 2013, he had made insensitive remarks about a man on hunger strike demanding release of water from a dam.
“There is a person from Solapur, on hunger strike for 55 days, demanding water be released from the dam. But where are we going to get water from? Should we urinate? And when we are not getting water to drink, even urine is not coming easily,” Pawar had said. He later apologised for “hurting sentiments”.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)
Also Read: Ajit Pawar-IPS call row: NCP MLC retracts X post critical of officer after asking UPSC to verify her caste
