Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on October 24 warned the ruling Eknath Shinde-led government that it would have to pay the price for disregarding the problems facing Maharashtra’s youth.
The 82-year-old Mr. Sharad Pawar, addressing a packed audience at Pune’s Tilak Smarak Mandir, kickstarted his grand-nephew and MLA Rohit Pawar’s Yuva Sangharsh Yatra on the occasion of Dussehra on October 24.
The planned 800-km foot march from Pune to Nagpur is planned as a massive outreach programme to woo youth towards the NCP faction led by Mr. Sharad Pawar following the split within the party engineered by Mr. Sharad Pawar’s mercurial nephew and rebel NCP leader Ajit Pawar.
“Even before you all started this yatra, the State government has withdrawn its government resolution to recruit employees on contract basis for government service. It was compelled to take this decision because of the Yuva Sangharsh Yatra. So, think of the impact the march will have by the time it reaches Nagpur. I am sure that if the ruling powers wish to hold on to power, they would do well to take cognizance of this foot march,” said Mr. Sharad Pawar.
He warned that if the Shinde government did not pay attention to it, then it would have the face the consequences in the next election.
Mr. Sharad Pawar further promised that he would take up the demands of all youth with CM Shinde and ask him to hold a meeting with the youth representatives.
“I will attend the meeting myself. If the State government gives an assurance, then fine, else if they do not fulfil your demands, we will decide on the future course of action,” said Mr. Sharad Pawar.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Rohit Pawar, a first-time legislator from Karjat-Jamkhed constituency in Ahmednagar, took on the government for ignoring the problems of the youth and indulging instead in frivolous behaviour in the State Legislature.
“Despite having degrees, youth in Maharashtra today have no jobs. Despite preparing for competitive exams, they learn that the day after giving the exam, exam papers have been leaked. This is injustice. Instead of addressing their problems seriously in the Legislative Assembly, proceedings there are conducted in a frivolous manner with MLAs cracking jokes and poems about political defections instead,” said Mr. Rohit Pawar.
In a veiled jibe at Mr. Ajit Pawar and the rebel NCP leaders, he said that while many thought the Sharad Pawar loyalists ought to join the ruling BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the Sharad Pawar faction stayed true to its principles.
After Mr. Ajit Pawar’s rebellion, Mr. Rohit Pawar is among the handful of loyalists to stick on with Mr. Sharad Pawar, trying to fill the void caused by Ajit’s splitting of the NCP and subsequent alignment with the BJP and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Mr. Rohit Pawar’s political performance and his keen grasp of local issues has stood in stark contrast with his cousin Parth Pawar, Mr. Ajit Pawar’s eldest son, who suffered a crushing defeat in the 2019 general election, the first member of the Pawar clan to lose an election.
