In Maharashtra's Parbhani, Ajit Pawar faces protests against his crop insurance scheme comment

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar's Parbhani visit on Saturday witnessed high drama with members of the Kisan Sabha and Youth Congress staging a surprise protest, throwing lime powder and raising slogans against his comments on the one-rupee crop insurance scheme.
The incident took place outside the Parbhani district collector's office, where Pawar's convoy arrived for an official review meeting. Protesters, who were waiting discreetly, rushed towards the motorcade, shouting slogans and throwing containers of lime powder in the direction of the vehicles. They were expressing anger over Pawar's recent statement alleging that farmers "duped" govt in the subsidised crop insurance scheme.
The suddenness of the protest sparked chaos, leaving the police scrambling. Security personnel detained the protesters and cleared the way for Ajit Pawar's convoy to proceed further.
Unfazed by the protests, Pawar continued with his schedule. He chaired a series of administrative review meetings to assess govt's development schemes' implementation across Parbhani district. He warned that stringent action would be taken against anyone found misappropriating funds meant for development works.
During the meeting, he also pulled up govt officials for the failure in meeting certain works. Later in the day, he addressed a gathering of NCP workers at Akshata Mangal Karyalaya, where he laid emphasis on maintaining discipline within the party. In a stern warning to his colleagues, Pawar said, "A party functionary must be clean and free of addictions. If anyone is involved in any wrongdoing, consider that s/he has no place in the organisation. I will not tolerate a person of such character."
He said NCP was now entering into its 25th year and the party's intentions and goals were extremely clear. "We are taking efforts to take all the communities along. The party workers should abstain from clubbing contractorship with their political work. Those who want to do politics should abstain from doing contractorship and vice-versa," Pawar said.
Pawar reiterated that NCP's future depended on maintaining a clean image at all levels. "If someone indulges in illegal activities, s/he will be thrown out," Pawar said, drawing applause from the audience.