Indapur, Pune, Apr 7: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, nephew of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, today make shocking remarks about drought-hit farmers and power cuts in the state, throwing the state politics into a tizzy.
Addressing a meeting to inaugurate some projects here, Ajit Pawar ridiculed a two-month-long protest at Mumbai's Azad Maidan by a farmer demanding water for his parched field.
"There is this person from Solapur, Deshmukh, sitting 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."
Ajit Pawar also said frequent power cuts at night are causing population growth. "When there is now power, what will people do? They will procreate."
Ajit Pawar also said, he had not come here drunk. When somebody offered him a bottle of mineral water to drink, Pawar remarked, people will now say there's something mixed with this drink.
Maharashtra is presently reeling under the most acute drought in a decade, with thousands of farmers unable to cultivate their parched land.
Late in the evening, Ajit Pawar issued a statement retracting his remarks and apologizing to the people of Maharashtra for his remarks.
The statement issued by Ajit Pawar said, "my remarks were not in the context of the drought-hit people of the state. If my remarks have hurt the feelings of the people, I seek apology. The state is facing acute drought and our government is trying its best to tackle the situation."
Opposition parties like the BJP and MNS lashed out at Ajit Pawar for his remarks. BJP leader Shaina NC said, it displayed a "sick mindset". She appealed to people to vote out "insensitive and corrupt" people.
In Jalgaon, MNS supremo Raj Thackeray lashed out at Ajit Pawar and said, people in the next elections will not give votes, but urine to the NCP. "Only then will Ajit Pawar realize that he should have built a dam, otherwise he would be flushed off in the torrent of people's urine."
