Minister blasts media, gets no support
So angry he was that he wanted curbs on the media because it hyped things. "If you do not show factually correct news, a calamity will befall you," the Indian Express quoted him as having said.
MAHESH VIJAPURKAR on Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar~s diatribe on Sunday in Nanded. Image: Zee News
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Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister, Ajit Pawar is at the receiving end after he advocated from a public platform on Sunday (Feb 6) in Nanded, that the media ought to be curbed and that they ought to be dealt with using sticks. He was irked when during the inauguration of an irrigation dam, Limboti, a project-affected villager, Ashok Patil, got up to make some points about poor rehabilitation. The media turned the spotlight on the complainant and that got Ajit Pawar’s goat enough for him to launch a diatribe against the media.
So angry was he that he said, “If you do not show factually correct news, a calamity will befall you.” This was in Indian Express while Marathi newspapers quoted him as having said that he advocated the need to use the stick against the media.
Soon after that, the police pushed media persons out of the venue. This is not the first time the police have acted to keep Ajit Pawar in good humour. On November 23, 2010, a teacher who asked him a question at a rally in Beed was beaten up and made to cool his heels in the police lock up. In Nanded, the farmer was likewise escorted to the police lock up.
The incident has evoked strong responses. Suresh Kalmadi (of the CWG fame) has said that even when he was being targeted for Commonwealth Games-related issues, he had not sought a ban on the media. Kalmadi and Ajit Pawar are perpetually fighting for turf in Pune city.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said: “Who can curb the media? He probably meant, who dare curb the media?’’ Eknath Khadse, Leader of the Opposition, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly said: “He is pinning the blame on the media for his own failures.”
Gopinath Munde, Deputy Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha said: “He seems to have lost his patience and forgotten his limits. He and his style of functioning betray “arrogance”.
The reactions of Bal Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) are quite ironic given their poor track record on using strong arm tactics against the media. Neelam Ghore, Sena’s spokesperson said, Ajit Pawar’s “language” is “worrisome”. ``This is indicative of where politics is heading. He “seems to have lost his sense of balance.’’
MNS leader, Bala Nandgaonkar, an MLA, asked, “How many people can be shown their place by using the police lathis?” In a democracy, the media has a place and the egotists have been shown their place. Ajit Pawar had better change his ways.”
