Pune: Pune Mayor Manjusha Nagpure on Tuesday hit out at NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar over his threat to shut down Pune as part of the ongoing MPSC agitation, saying the city would not tolerate attempts to inconvenience citizens in the name of the protest.
Pawar had warned the state government of a Pune bandh if the demands of protesting MPSC aspirants, including action against MPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar, were not addressed within his 48-hour ultimatum.
Addressing a press conference, Nagpure said Pune has historically been an educational hub where lakhs of students from across the state come to study.
She said, “Pune city has always extended warmth and care to students. The students who have come to Pune to study have also never caused inconvenience to the city or Punekars.”
Reacting directly to Pawar’s bandh warning, Nagpure said, “Rohit Pawar has said that he will shut down Pune city. I challenge him to go ahead and shut down the city. Let him call for a shutdown and then he will understand what Punekars are like.”
She said the ongoing protests had already caused inconvenience to citizens, including traffic congestion and difficulties for patients, schoolchildren and college students in reaching their destinations.
“Punekars are tolerating all this peacefully and have never complained. Yet Rohit Pawar is saying that he will shut down Pune city,” she said.
Nagpure urged students to focus on their education and careers instead of getting involved in political activities. She said, “Students have come here to study. They should study, focus on their education and build their careers. But they should not follow political leaders and political parties that are trying to protect their own existence and score political points, and in the process ruin their own careers.”
The Mayor also questioned whether senior NCP-SP leaders Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule agreed with the proposal to shut down Pune.
“Sharad Pawar Saheb lives in Pune, and Supriya Sule also lives in Pune. Do they agree with what Rohit Pawar has said about shutting down Pune city?” she asked.
However, Nagpure clarified that she was not opposed to the students’ right to protest.
“Students have the right to protest. The Mayor’s position is against shutting down Pune, not against the protest itself,” she said.
She added that if protesters attempted to hold citizens to ransom by shutting down the city, the civic administration would oppose it.
Nagpure said, “If they set out to shut down Pune and hold Punekars to ransom, we will also have to take to the streets.”
Nagpure also said she was open to meeting the protesting students if they approached her directly.
The Mayor said, “If they come to me and there is something they want me to convey, I am open for discussion. They can come and speak to me anytime.”
