Sharad Pawar pulls Ajit Pawar’s ears

Mumbai : Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar Saturday pulled up his nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, terming his remark on drought-hit and power deficit areas as “improper” but said that now that he has apologised, he should be forgiven.

“As the party president, I will say that Ajit Pawar’s statement was improper and unfortunate,” Sharad Pawar told mediapersons during a visit to Thane, about 25 km from Mumbai.

“He ought to be a lot more careful of the choice of his words and language when occupying such a responsible public position,” Sharad Pawar, who is also the chief of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), said while giving an earful to his nephew.

However, he said that since Ajit Pawar has tendered a public apology for his comments, the matter must now end. “Now that he (Ajit Pawar) has apologised, he should be forgiven,” the NCP chief said.

He also urged the opposition parties to stop disrupting the proceedings in the state assembly over the issue.

When asked about the clamour for Ajit Pawar’s resignation, Sharad Pawar said that it was the NCP which would take any decision in the matter and not the legislators.

Last week, Ajit Pawar shot his mouth off when he commented about protests in the drought-hit regions of Maharashtra at a public meeting in Pune.

“Who is that (Bhaisaheb) Deshmukh? What is the point of his protest? Will it yield water? When there is no water, where will I arrange water from? Should I urinate in the dams,” Ajit Pawar had asked.

He had also said that the population in areas reeling under power cuts was increasing as the people in such areas had nothing else to do when their is no electricity.

Sharad Pawar also came down heavily on rampant illegal constructions in Thane district, in the wake of last week’s building crash in Daighar, near Mumbra, which killed 74 people.

He warned that anybody involved in illegal construction, including NCP legislators, would be targeted in the interest of public safety.