Padalkar's remark on Rohit Pawar over MPSC protest stirs row in Sangli

Politics in the state has heated up over irregularities in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examinations and the demands of students. Students are demanding that the MPSC chairman resign. An agitation on this demand was held in Pune under the leadership of Rohit Pawar, MLA of the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.

BJP MLA Gopichand Padalkar has now made a sharp remark against Rohit Pawar over the agitation. Speaking in Sangli, Padalkar said, "Rohit Pawar's head should be branded with the iron rod used to brand sheep." The statement has set off a fresh controversy.

Padalkar claimed that in a meeting with the MPSC chairman, Rohit Pawar had said there was no need for the chairman to resign. According to Padalkar, Rohit Pawar raised the issue of resignation again even after that, and this was why he targeted Rohit Pawar.

Padalkar also said that he too had held agitations, but alleged that Rohit Pawar had turned the students' agitation into a spectacle. He said he did not know what had actually happened during the agitation, but that Rohit Pawar should stop provoking the students.

On the government, Padalkar said it was trying to resolve the students' problems and was standing firmly with them. In his view, there should be no politics in the agitation over resolving the students' issues.

Padalkar also commented on Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut. He said Raut should worry about getting re-elected to the Rajya Sabha, and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP do not need his advice.

Raut had said that the Central government was about to fall. Reacting to this, Padalkar taunted that Raut had been saying for the past six years that the government would fall.

Students and political circles alike are now watching what is decided next on the students' demands and the question of the commission chairman's resignation.