‘Throw My Daughter & Son-In-Law Into The River’: Maharashtra Minister Tells Voters

Mumbai: In politics, there is no love lost even between family members.

Furious at the prospect of his daughter joining a rival party, Maharashtra minister Dharmaraobaba Atram has urged voters of Aheri Assembly constituency to throw Bhagyashree and her husband Rituraj Halgekar into the Pranhita river.

After her reported move to switch sides and join the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction emerged, the Minister of Food & Drug Administration and senior NCP leader Atram called out Bhagyashree for ditching him, reported IANS.

“People leave the party but there is no need to pay attention to them. Some people in our family want to join another party by using my political clout. For 40 years, people have engineered defections in state politics. Now the Sharad Pawar group leaders want to divide my house and field my daughter against me. Don’t trust my son-in-law and daughter,” Atram said in the presence of the party’s national president and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, amid loud applause and slogans.

“These people have ditched me. Everyone should throw them into the nearby Pranhita River. They are taking my daughter to their side and pitting her against her father. A girl who could not become a daughter of her father, how can she become yours? You have to think about it. What justice will she give to you? Don’t trust them. In politics, I will not see this as my daughter, brother or sister,” said Atram, who is expected to be the party’s candidate from Aheri constituency in the Assembly elections due in November-December this year.

He added that if Bhagyashree deserts him, another daughter and his son are with him, so are his brother and cousin’s son.

“The whole family is behind me,” he said in a message to Bhagyashree.

Ajit Pawar, who himself deserted his uncle Sharad to join hands with BJP and Shiv Sena last year, appealed to Bhagyashree.

“The whole family is with Dharmaraobaba, who has made one of them the president of Zilla Parishad. But now they (Bhagyashree) are preparing to contest Dharmaraobaba himself. Wrestling is very popular with us. Always the master does not teach all tricks to the one who learns from him. He reserves one but teaches others. I want to tell them (Bhagyashree) not to make the mistake. Stay with your father,” Ajit said.