'Stay away from anti-social elements', Ajit Pawar tells NCP workers amid sarpanch murder in Beed

Beed: Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Wednesday asked the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers in Beed district to keep their image clean and stay away from criminal elements.

Pawar was speaking at a gathering of youth activists of the NCP here.

His comments came against the backdrop of the gruesome murder of Massajog sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh in the district last year and arrest of Walmik Karad, a close associate of NCP leader Dhananjay Munde, in a related case of extortion. Munde, a cabinet minister, was forced to resign under pressure last month.

"Keep your image clean and stay away from anti-social elements," said NCP chief Pawar who is also the guardian minister of the district.

A lesson will be taught to gangs which dominate fly-ash collection business near thermal power stations as well as sand and land mafia in Beed, Pawar said.

People in the district need to change their mindset, he said, adding, ''While the rest of the state has progressed, here even garbage removal is an issue."

While admitting a person into the party, his credentials must be checked, Pawar said.

On May 1, Maharashtra will complete 62 years of statehood but there has not been much development in the eight districts of Marathwada (including Beed), Pawar conceded.

"We have to prevent attempts to sully Beed's image and to create caste divisions. We have to put the district on the path of development,'' he said.

Party workers should do "80 percent social work and 20 percent politics", Pawar said.

"It is better not to remember the past. We have to move ahead thinking this is a new dawn," he added.

Afterwards, he headed for the collector's office for the district planning committee meeting.

Notably, Dhananjay Munde, MLA from Parli in the district, was not present during Pawar's programs. Munde took to social media to clarify that he was in Mumbai for medical treatment.