Urinal named after Ajit Pawar in Jalna

While the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly continued to witness uproarious scenes for a third day over state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's urine remark, a urinal was also named after the NCP leader in Jalna. Reports on Tuesday said that the activists in Jalna have named the urinal after Ajit Pawar in protest to his objectionable remark on the drought situation and load-shedding in the state. The activists also pasted a poster of the NCP leader on the wall of the urinal in Jalna.

This comes three days after Ajit, while referring to a farmer on a hunger fast demanding water be released in dams, said that the only way of releasing water in dams would be to urinate in them. The remarks drew sharp reactions from several parties. The State Assembly had to be adjourned for a while as the opposition tried to pass a censure motion against him. However, the Speaker rejected that motion.

Politicians can be highly insensitive and bizarre at times and Ajit Pawar is the latest to join the bandwagon of such leaders. Anyone's first reaction on hearing Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's nephew talk about dry dams and asking those present at a rally in Pune district if people should fill them with urine if there was no water would have been � what was this man thinking - has he completely lost his mental balance?

It amazes one to think as to how Ajit Pawar could deride a poor farmer who has been protesting at Mumbai's Azad Maidan to get water for his fields from dams. Ajit Pawar's comments were in reference to Bhaiyya Deshmukh, the farmer from drought-affected Solapur district who is on fast in Mumbai for almost two months now. What was worse that Junior Pawar did not stop there. Continuing in the same vein, he went ahead and made a cheap joke at how the population of Maharashtra was increasing because of electricity cut.

Farmers are committing suicide because their fields are dry and they are unable to pay loans. They are committing suicide because they are unable to take care of their family and cannot bear to see them starve. In such a scenario is it not downright cruel when those who represent the electorate and are expected to solve their problems mock at their misery and laugh at their helplessness.

Ajit Pawar did apologise later and say that the tasteless comments were the biggest mistake of his life. In fact he said sorry repeatedly � he first issued a statement and then apologized in the Maharashtra Assembly. But the question is � is an apology enough?

This is not the first time that the NCP leader has been embroiled in controversy. He had resigned as Deputy CM from the Democratic Front government in September last year after being accused of irrigation scam when he had held the portfolio from 2004 to 2009. However, in what many thought to be a cover up, he was brought back after he was given a clean chit by a White Paper by the Maharashtra government. And what does he do after coming back � instead of solving problems of those who voted for him, he pokes fun at their sad state.