BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad (from left), Smriti Irani, S.S. Ahluwalia and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi during the first meeting
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Sunday put his foot firmly in his mouth when he, while speaking about the drought, asked if he was expected to “urinate and fill up the dams”. He made this comment while taking on social activist Prabhakar Deshmukh, who has been fasting and urging the government to release water from the Ujni dam for Solapur. He, later, tendered an unconditional apology to the people of the state for his comments.
Speaking at a function on Saturday in Indapur of Pune district, Mr Pawar said, “Somebody has been fasting for 55 days. He is some Deshmukh, asking us to release water from dams. How can one do that? Should we urinate in the dams? In fact, we urinate fewer times these days because there is lesser water to drink (sic).”
It was not just his comments ridiculing drought-affected people, but also his comments making fun of people facing loadshedding that has received angry reactions.
The DCM also claimed that the birth rate in the state had gone up since the loadshedding has increased. “What else will people do when there is no light,” he said.
Mr Pawar’s uncle and chief of Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar said he was unaware of his nephew’s faux-pax.
Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, however, came down heavily on Mr Pawar and demanded his resignation.
Mr Thackeray said, “Everyone should hand over their urine to the DCM to drink since he is adding insult to people’s injury and mocking their condition. Senior BJP leader and member of Parliament Gopinath Munde condemned his statement and asked for a public apology.
The Aam Admi Party (AAP) also reacted on this and referred his statement as shameful and shocking. The party said that Mr Pawar’s statement reflected his true face as a corrupt politician with no empathy for the citizens.
Mr Pawar, on Sunday evening issued an unconditional apology for making irresponsible comments. He said, “My statement was in the context of the drought, but if I have hurt anyone’s feelings, I apologise to the people of the state, as I don’t want to hamper the drought relief programmes. Our government is committed to provide every possible relief to the affected people.”