The likes of Pawar are not only threat to democracy for they dare to challenge the Constitution of the country, they are also a threat to the social fabric of the country for they think they are above the human kind.
The sanctity of elections has been damaged by its guardian. The deputy chief minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar has chosen to put his family first before his oath to serve the people of his state. He has allegedly threatened the voters to “cut off’ their water supply if they do not vote for his cousin and sitting NCP MP Supriya Sule.
A video of Pawar addressing a gathering in Masalwadi village in Baramati constituency has surfaced where he is seen warning the citizen and influencing their rights.
“Tomorrow there will be voting. If anybody from this village creates any trouble, I will end the water (supply) to the village. Supriya is getting lots of votes from all of Baramati, so votes from your village won’t change anything,” a voice that is allegedly Pawar’s is heard saying in the grainy video.
The person, allegedly Pawar, even goes on falsely claiming that he will know from the voting machine whether the people have voted for Supriya or not. He then says that he had undertaken a lot of pains to ensure that Rs 60 crore had been cleared for a project in the village and said that even Lord Brahma couldn’t bring water to the village.
A youth dares to challenge Pawar in the video and points out that the promised water pipeline “within two months” for the village, was yet to be fulfilled after eight years. When he said it was his right to demand an answer, Pawar’s supporters tried to hush him up. Pawar then purportedly asked his supporters to “pick him up” and left the spot, saying the village would not get any water.
The video has been cited in a complaint filed by Suresh Khopde, a former IPS officer and AAP candidate from Baramati, at the Vadgaon (Nimbalkar) police station. The police are yet to register the complaint.
According to Indian Express, similar complaint has been filed by Dilip Khaire, a polling agent of Mahadeo Jankar of the Rashtriya Samaj Paksha and candidate in the Lok Sabha elections as an ally of the Shiv Sena-BJP combine against Sule, with election officials in Baramati on Thursday. According to the complaint, Pawar held the meeting in Masalwadi village at 8.30 pm on Tuesday despite the fact that the campaigning had ended.
Firstpost reports that while NCP officials have pointed out that the authenticity of the video is suspect given that the NCP leader’s face can’t even be seen.
This side of Pawar is not new as in April last year, he had kicked up a similar controversy for his comments on water shortage. Referring to a hunger strike by a farmer from a drought-hit area of Solapur, Pawar had said, “If there is no water in the dam, how can we release it? Should we urinate into it? If there is no water to drink, even urination is not possible.”
He was earlier accused of being involved in a Rs 20,000 crore irrigation scandal following which he had resigned as deputy chief minister. He later returned to the post after the state government said that no evidence was found of his guilt.
The likes of Pawar are not only threat to democracy for they dare to challenge the Constitution of the country, they are also a threat to the social fabric of the country for they think they are above the human kind. The power that has been given by the citizen to serve the country is misunderstood by them as the power of an absolute ruler who can dictate the will of the people.
The EC should take note of the act soon and if the authenticity of the video is proved. And people should bear in mind that such people should not come to the fore again.
