New Delhi: A candidate of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP has come up with a unique promise for the upcoming assembly elections in Maharashtra. Rajesaheb Deshmukh, NCP(SCP)’s candidate for the Parli assembly seat, has promised to marry off bachelors in the constituency if he gets elected as MLA. “I assure all the young men that I will marry them off and offer some livelihood also,” he said during a campaign rally.
Deshmukh is up against sitting NCP MLA and cabinet minister Dhananjay Munde for the November 20 assembly election.
"When it comes to deciding marriages, people want to know if the boys from Parli have jobs or are in any business. How will they get jobs if govt is not offering employment? If the guardian minister, Dhananjay Munde, is aloof from setting up industries or other such activities, what will the bachelors do? I assure all the young men that I will marry them off and offer some livelihood also," Deshmukh was quoted as saying by TOI.
Deshmukh's party has defended his comments. "Youth not getting married — especially in Marathwada where employment generation is almost nil in the past decade despite claims of development by BJP and its allies — has become a social issue. There is nothing wrong if any of our leaders is pledging to help such youth and promising the needful by possibly arranging matrimonies and organising mass marriage events," NCP(SCP) chief spokesperson Ankush Kakde said.
The Parli assembly constituency in Beed district has been witnessing one of the most polarised constituencies in Marathwada this election. The assembly seat is witnessing a Maratha vs OBC fight in the poll ring.
NCP (SCP), led by Sharad Pawar, has fielded Deshmukh, a Maratha candidate, against Munde, an OBC face in the region.