Eat, drink & fast: Maharashtra minister’s advice to students

Mumbai: A Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) minister had a Marie Antoinette moment after he asked tribal students, fasting for 14 days, to eat secretly while continuing their fast. FDA minister Narhari Zirwal, who met the fasting students in Pune late Wednesday night, told the agitating students: “You need to eat and drink (water) as you continue your agitation. I used to also hide and eat my food while I used to agitate (fast).”

The shocked students retorted by saying they would not have been agitating if they were eating and drinking.

Zirwal, who hails from the tribal community, along with tribal development minister Ashok Uike had gone to meet the students to get them to withdraw their fast. Zirwal, who made his career as a man representing the tribal community, was slammed by the students who questioned why he came to meet them after 14 days of fasting.

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Zirwal’s comments not just infuriated the students, who vowed to continue their fast till their demands were addressed, but also led the Opposition to slam him.

“What can you say about such a minister? We can’t expect anything else from him. The entire Cabinet is filled with such ministers. We want to ask the chief minister and deputy CM Sunetra Pawar to control their ministers,” said UBT Sena leader Ambadas Danve. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar also took on the NCP minister and said Zirwal did not know anything about protests or democracy and that he was wrong to narrate his own experience to students who had been protesting for 14 days.