Clearing the air about a ceremony at a lake in Mahad that led to pandemonium in the state Assembly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said no “purification ritual” was held at the historic lake, Chavdar, as alleged by opposition parties. Giving details of the “jalpujan”, which was being twisted as “jalshuddikaran”, Fadnavis depicted details of what exactly happened at Mahad on March 19 where farmers had assembled as part of the water conservation awareness campaign, thus refuting the Opposition’s allegations that it was an affront to Dalit icon BR Ambedkar. The Congress-NCP along with other smaller parties had made a scathing attack on the government alleging a Shiv Sena (MLA) Bharat Gogawle along with workers had conducted a water purification ceremony at the historic lake where “Dr Ambedkar had held an agitation for right to water in 1927”. [related-post] Exposing the Opposition’s attempt to politicise the issue, Fadnavis said, “The state government had launched a water awareness week between March 16 and 22. The decision was taken at the cabinet to hold various activities related to save water campaign through farmers rally, jaldindi (procession), exhibitions, art, culture and essays involving school and college students.” As part of the campaign on March 19, the water resources department held a farmers rally at Mahad. Before the function, local officials of the department along with people from various walks of life visited the nearby lake and performed a “jalpujan” (a ceremony paying reverence to the lake/ river/ pond). At the function, local Shiv Sena (MLA) Bharat Gogawle and district officers were also invited who also performed “jalpujan”, the Assembly was told. Emphasising that the programme at Mahad was to inculcate the significance of water conservation in farmers, Fadnavis said, “There was no ritual of water purification ever conducted at Mahad.” Former chief minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan questioned why the campaign was termed jal pujan. Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagade said there was nothing wrong in using the word jal pujan. Earlier, opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and NCP’s Jayant Patil kept harping on how the incident shows the hidden agenda of BJP and was an insult to Dalit leader Ambedkar. The Congress-NCP staged a walkout. The day was marked by adjournments over the issue of Mahad, developments at Fergusson college and farmer suicides. Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse said, “What right does Congress have to speak on Ambedkar? They always worked to ensure his defeat.” Ambedkar had to seek a berth in Rajya Sabha from Bengal as Maharashtra did not accord him a place under Congress rule which exposes their double standards, he argued.
