Maharashtra: Three Union ministers embark on 'Jan Ashirwad Yatra'

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Newly-inducted Union ministers Bharti Pawar, Kapil Patil and Bhagwat Karad on Monday embarked on "Jan Ashirwad" yatras in different parts of Maharashtra to reach out to people. Pawar, Minister of State for Health, joined the yatra in the Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai which will cover five Lok Sabha constituencies in Palghar, Nashik, Dhule and Nandurbar districts during August 16 and 20.

Minister of State for Panchayati Raj and Bhiwandi MP Kapil Patil joined the yatra in Thane and Karad, MOS for Finance, from Parli in the Beed district, the stronghold of BJP national secretary Pankaja Munde, in the Marathwada region. When Karad, a Rajya Sabha MP, reached Pankaja Munde's residence in Parli, some people, apparently her supporters, raised slogans hailing her and her MP sister Pritam Munde, who failed to make a cut in the Union council of ministers in the latest expansion.

Enraged by the slogans, Pankaja Munde scolded them for displaying "childish behaviour". "I will never meet these activists who raised filthy slogans. I am irritated due to your childish behaviour. Did I teach you to behave like this? Why are you raising such slogans? Is it a party's programme?" Munde questioned. Pritam Munde's non-inclusion in the Union cabinet had not gone down well with the supporters of the Munde sisters.

Karad said late Gopinath Munde took the BJP to grassroots in the Marathwada region. "I am here because of the work done by Gopinath Munde," he added. Meanwhile, Pawar said in Palghar that the BJP started the ''Jan Aashirwad Yatras'' to understand issues being faced by the people. "The BJP''s priority is to serve the people. This is how the party functions," she added.

Reaching out to tribals, Pawar said they never feared the British and can deal with any challenge. "This is the reason why PM Modi made eight tribal MPs as ministers in his cabinet. All of us will work hard and justify the faith the Prime Minister has put in all of us and serve the people by ushering in development," she said and listed welfare schemes such as Jandhan Yojana, Ujjwala gas Yojana etc.

Before joining the yatra, Pawar paid tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on his death anniversary and also laid a wreath at the Hutatma memorial. Pawar will cover 431 kms in Palghar, Nashik, Dhule, and Nandurbar. A BJP release said Pawar visited the Palghar rural hospital and was shocked to find that none of the 15 ventilators that were sent under the PM Cares Fund during the Covid-19 pandemic was available at the facility.

Pawar expressed displeasure over the "missing ventilators" and shocked to know that the hospital lacked the ICU. She took medical officers to the task for goof-ups, it said. Pawar and Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Pravin Darekar, later interacted with a tea seller and some youngsters in Palghar.

She also visited the famous Mahalaxmi temple in Dahanu. Speaking to reporters after embarking on the yatra from Thane city, Kapil Patil thanked PM Narendra Modi for giving representation to the Thane district in the Union cabinet. Hundreds of activists of the BJP led by Thane city chief and MLC Niranjan Davkhare, MLA Sanjay Kelkar, former MP Kirit Somiya and others welcomed Patil while members of the Agri and Koli communities danced and sang songs.

"PM Modi had asked us to seek blessings of the people immediately after we took oath as ministers," Patil said. Patil, who was with the NCP before crossing over to the BJP, thanked senior leader Devendra Fadnavis for showing him the "right path".

In Dombivali, Patil assured villagers that every possible effort will be made to name the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport after the leader of Project Affected People (PAP) late DB Patil. An action committee of 27 villages handed over a memorandum to Patil demanding the creation of a separate municipal corporation.

They claimed that property tax had been hiked on ten occasions "which is an attempt to crush the sons of the soil". Union cabinet minister from Maharashtra Narayan Rane is slated to join the yatra between August 19 and 25 in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts and Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation areas.

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