MLC poll: Rohit Pawar claims support of some Mahayuti neats for party candidate

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Tuesday said that some leaders from the ruling Mahayuti have been supporting his party’s candidate for Aurangabad Graduates’ Constituency polls on Oct 23.Pratapsinh Patil of NCP (SP) is taking on Satish Chavan of NCP in Aurangabad Graduates’ Constituency poll.“There is a highly negative atmosphere against the opponent candidate. Even some of the ruling party leaders are supporting our candidate,” he told media persons in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.Naming Abdul Sattar, Sillod Shiv Sena MLA who has openly supported Patil, Pawar said he expresses thankfulness towards Sattar for supporting a “good” candidate.Taking a jibe at Chavan, Pawar said the sitting MLC had tried his luck in the 2024 assembly poll, knowing that he would be on shaky ground during Aurangabad Graduates’ Constituency polls.“The voters will ensure his defeat. Neither money nor muscle power will work. Graduate voters are self-respecting and they will not bow before anybody,” Pawar said.The NCP (SP) MLA also accused Chavan of maintaining silence during the recent agitation of MPSC candidates and other pressing issues. “Voters say that he appears briefly for 15 days during poll campaigning and remains elusive for the next six years,” Pawar said.Pawar also demanded that the state govt release Rs1 lakh per hectare aid to farmers and Rs25,000 aid per family for farm labourers affected by the drought.“Amid waiting for substantial help, the state govt has announced the release of merely Rs5,000 to farmers. It is a mockery of the pain experienced by farmers,” he said.Pawar also said that Maharashtra would witness a change of power during the next elections. “The drought of 1972, followed by an emergency declared later, eventually saw a change of power in the country previously. The situation is similar now and we have an undeclared emergency in the country,” he said.On President Droupadi Murmu’s scheduled visit to Nashik on Oct 31 for the traditional flag-hoisting ceremony that marks Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha Kumbh Mela’s beginning, Pawar said the President should first “study” what is happening for preparations of the religious event.“There is large-scale corruption in the Kumbh Mela arrangements at Nashik. The President should consider why she was side-lined during the Ram Temple consecration ceremony at Ayodhya and also for inauguration of the new Parliament building,” he said.On the proposed Nagpur-Goa Shaktipeeth highway, Pawar said the ministry led by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari should take over the project from the state to save excess spending. “The road project is not needed in the first place. If the govt wants to push it, it should give farmers compensation equal to 10 times the existing market rates,” he said.Stay updated with the latest Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar news. Download the TOI App.