CONGRATULATIONS TO CITIZEN-POLITICIAN AJIT DADA PAWAR ON BECOMING DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER OF MAHARASHTRA
His troubled elevation made me travel back into time and space. In 2003-2004, I was a primary member of Nationalist Congress Party of Ajit Dada Pawar. That was my first hands on brush with Indian politics of any kind. Once I had a chance to meet Ajit Dada Pawar personally in a public meeting in Pimpri Chinchwad during that period. I was pleasantly surprised to meet him because I found him exactly opposite of typical political leaders. Contrary to public image of politicians, I found him to be a DOWN TO EARTH, READY TO HELP, AFFABLE, PRACTICAL, WILLING TO SOLVE HIS CONSTITUENT CITIZENS' PROBLEMS and SIMPLE PERSON WHO HAD NO AIRS OF BEING A BIG INFLUENTIAL POLITICIAN. He behaved as any another normal fellow citizen. Most politicians are notorious for POSTURING wherein they WOULD PRETEND TO LISTEN TO YOU TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS, BUT WOULDN'T DO SO IN REALITY. I found he wasn't a politician given to POSTURING. NOT ONLY MINE, BUT HE MADE ALL OUT SINCERE EFFORTS TO SOLVE PROBLEMS of EVERYONE PRESENT IN THAT MEET. This was the stark difference I had then found between him and Political leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian National Congress Party of the time. BJP/INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS PARTY leadership of that time I found to be a POSTURING-LEADERSHIP who made all sounds and fury on your face to show they were solving your genuine problem, but in reality made no efforts to do so once you came out of their office/house...! In fact, it was only after my that momentous meeting with Ajit Dada Pawar that my perception of all politicians being a CROOKED and SELFISH bunch changed. I then realized there were politicians such as Ajit Dada Pawar who were really exceptionally citizen-Oriented and whose only purpose of being in politics was to serve ordinary citizens selflessly to the best of their ability. No wonder, he came to exercise wonderful grip over an otherwise uncontrollable and unwieldy bureaucracy of Maharashtra state when his NATIONALIST CONGRESS PARTY happened to be at helm of power in Maharashtra in subsequent years. Yes, I do find it an irritating distraction to read about recent allegations of corruption against him. The allegations are really unbelievable for me if he happens to be the same STERLING NON-CORRUPT CITIZEN-POLITICIAN AJIT DADA PAWAR whom I had been fortunate enough to meet that amazing summer of 2003-2004 that had altered my perception of Indian politicians from being bad to being good."
- Sujata kumari,
Joint Editor,
Aatmeeyataa Patrekaa
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