CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: In a candid public admission of the recent rift in his family, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday said he changed his tone of speaking since his elder brother was no longer with him.
“We should pay attention to our ‘burning house’ first. Only then can we keep the houses of others intact. We have some politicians among us whose family members are not with them, but they keep lecturing others. I used to be very assertive while speaking in the past, but have since changed my tone as my brother is no longer with me,” he said during a public programme at Jalna.
Pawar added that he would try to compensate for the “deficit” by doing good elsewhere. After Lok Sabha elections, which saw bitter rivalry within the Pawar family, assembly polls last year saw Yugendra Pawar, son of Ajit Pawar’s elder brother Shriniwas, taking him on from the Baramati seat. The poll campaign saw both factions of the family targeting each other.
Pawar, who was in Jalna during the formal entry of former Congress MLA Suresh Jethliya into NCP, also criticised local authorities and office bearers over uncleanliness in the city. “Govt pays crores of rupees towards salaries of govt employees and their pension schemes. Are we expected to come here to carry out cleanliness drives if they are not paying heed to the cleanliness of the city? The same is with local party office bearers and workers,” he said. Pawar also mentioned studies in some cities that claimed the reduction of people’s lifespan by up to five years due to air pollution.
Referring to the lack of hygiene at the Government Medical College and Hospital at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pawar said he was clueless whether people went there for treatment or spitting. “Those found spitting should be shamed. Do this to me also if you find me spitting. You may think that it is absurd that I am talking about this during the political programme, but this needs to be done,” he said.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In a candid public admission of the recent rift in his family, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday said he changed his tone of speaking since his elder brother was no longer with him.
“We should pay attention to our ‘burning house’ first. Only then can we keep the houses of others intact. We have some politicians among us whose family members are not with them, but they keep lecturing others. I used to be very assertive while speaking in the past, but have since changed my tone as my brother is no longer with me,” he said during a public programme at Jalna.
Pawar added that he would try to compensate for the “deficit” by doing good elsewhere. After Lok Sabha elections, which saw bitter rivalry within the Pawar family, assembly polls last year saw Yugendra Pawar, son of Ajit Pawar’s elder brother Shriniwas, taking him on from the Baramati seat. The poll campaign saw both factions of the family targeting each other.
Pawar, who was in Jalna during the formal entry of former Congress MLA Suresh Jethliya into NCP, also criticised local authorities and office bearers over uncleanliness in the city. “Govt pays crores of rupees towards salaries of govt employees and their pension schemes. Are we expected to come here to carry out cleanliness drives if they are not paying heed to the cleanliness of the city? The same is with local party office bearers and workers,” he said. Pawar also mentioned studies in some cities that claimed the reduction of people’s lifespan by up to five years due to air pollution.
Referring to the lack of hygiene at the Government Medical College and Hospital at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Pawar said he was clueless whether people went there for treatment or spitting. “Those found spitting should be shamed. Do this to me also if you find me spitting. You may think that it is absurd that I am talking about this during the political programme, but this needs to be done,” he said.