In a statement that would shock many, the NCP leader was quoted as saying by an English news channel, “A person from Solapur is sitting on hunger strike for 55 days. He is asking to release water from dams to his field. There is no water in dams. What should we do? Should we urinate in the dams? There is no water to drink. So we cannot even urinate.”
In fact the Deputy Chief Minister did not stop there. Going further, he made another comment which would make many cringe, on the shortage of electricity supply. “I have come to know that the population is increasing in the state since there is a shortage of electricity in Maharashtra. What other work people have when the lights are off,” he said.
For good measure he also added, “You must be thinking that I have taken (alcohol) in the day itself.” Equally shocking was the fact that the crowd present there lapped it up.
At a time when the state of Maharashtra is reeling under severe draught, the unwarranted comments by a senior state leader is certainly unbecoming. Ajit Pawar would do well to remember that districts like Solapur, Ahmednagar, Sangli, Pune, Satara, Beed, Nashik, Buldhana, Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded, Aurangabad and others are badly affected by draught and many farmers have committed suicide in these districts due to hardship.
