Zeenews Bureau
Mumbai: Following the uproar over his controversial ‘urine’ remark, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister said on Monday that it was the biggest mistake of his life.
The NCP leader landed himself in trouble when he said on April 06 that if the dams in the state was dry then should he urinate to fill them. In fact he did not stop there. He added that even urinating would be difficult given the fact that water was so scarce in Maharashtra.
“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,” Pawar had said.
Bhaiyya Deshmukh is the farmer from drought-affected Solapur district who is on fast at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
The Deputy CM was addressing a rally at an interior village in Indapur tehsil of Pune district on Saturday night.
The NCP leader followed it up with another remark poking fun at load-shedding in the state, saying, "I have noticed that more children are being born since the lights go off at night. There is no other work left then."
The Opposition including the Shiv Sena and the BJP slammed Ajit Pawar for his insensitive and bizarre remarks and both Houses in the state witnessed uproarious scenes with the Opposition gunning for him. Following the uproar, the NCP leader was forced to apolgise. He issued a statement yesterday tendering his apology and once again said sorry today in the Maharashtra Assembly.
"My comments on Saturday were not directed towards drought-affected people and I had no intention to hurt anybody`s sentiments. I hope my comments will not affect drought relief measures which will continue vigorously," he said in the Assembly, where the Opposition twice forced adjournment of the proceedings.
Facing the heat, Ajit admitted he should have chosen his words carefully. “It was never my intention to hurt anybody’s sentiments," Pawar told the Legislative Council where too he came under severe attack by the Opposition.
"It is true that I should have spoken responsibly," said Pawar, adding since the sentiments of the people and legislators had been hurt. “I apologise to all,” he repeated.
Ajit`s uncle and NCP chief Sharad Pawar too apologised for his remarks saying they were ‘unwanted’.
Regretting the remarks made by his nephew, Sharad Pawar said, "I duly apologise on the behalf of Deputy CM of Maharashtra for the unwanted comments that he had made," he said on micro-blogging site Twitter.
With PTI inputs
