Maharashtra Assembly polls 2024: ‘People want change’, Sharad Pawar calls for political overhaul over Badlapur abuse

Referring to the public outrage over the Badlapur sexual abuse case, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SCP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said that the “people of Maharashtra want change” as there is a “lot of uneasiness among the people”. The tremendous unrest among people stems from the government's apathy towards crimes in the state, said Pawar while speaking to reporters at the party office in Mumbai on Wednesday.

“How strong is the reaction of the people when a serious incident happens? An example of this was seen yesterday in Badlapur. This means that there is a lot of uneasiness among the people,” ANI quoted Pawar as saying. He also expressed concern over the sexual abuse of two kindergarten girls at a school in Badlapur.

Calling Lok Sabha elections result in Maharashtra a ‘silent revolution’, Sharad Pawar said that the people brought a change by giving Opposition's MVA alliance 31 of the 48 seats. The public has made up its mind to usher a change in the coming elections too, said Pawar according to PTI.

‘Maharashtra want change’: NCP Chief Sharad Pawar

“Assembly elections are ahead. Meetings are being held. People of Maharashtra want change,” ANI quoted Sharad Pawar as saying during a media interaction.

Pawar termed the Badlapur sexual abuse case as unfortunate and said that the protests in its aftermath are a testimony of people's anger. The public protest showed there was tremendous unrest among people as the government did not pay heed to the crime as it should have, the senior politician said.

“I saw an example yesterday of how people react strongly. People want change, and we want to change the state,” he added.

Maharashtra state assembly elections will be held by the end of this year. The Election Commission of India (ECI) on August 16, announced the schedule of elections in Haryana and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that will be held from September 18 to October 1. Meanwhile, the schedule for elections in Maharashtra is yet to be announced.