Chief Minister skips Rahul Bajaj felicitation function

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Saturday chose to heed the call of political expediency and skipped a function organised to felicitate independent Rajya Sabha candidate Rahul Bajaj for his contribution to the cause of the backward Marathwada region. The industrialist was conferred the Marathwada Mitra award by the Marathwada Lok Vikas Manch at Ravindra Natya Mandir, Dadar.

The CM said that he had “other commitments”, but observers felt he deliberately stayed away because Bajaj was being backed by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena combine in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

At the function. Bajaj was heckled by pro-reservation students. Police intervened and forcibly removed the agitators from the spot. 

Bajaj, who had termed the reservation policy as “the worst move made by the UPA government”, said he was not against the poor.

He pointed out that the Swaminarayan temple in Wardha, built by his grandfather, was the first temple to open its doors to backward class devotees. He added that his grandfather had worked with Mahatma Gandhi. “It was Jawaharlal Nehru who gave me the name Rahul. My mother once told Indira Gandhi, ‘you have stolen my son’s name for your grandson (also named Rahul),” he told the audience.

Interestingly, Deshmukh’s son, actor Riteish Deshmukh, was conferred the Marathwada Gaurav award in the same function.