Pawar’s grandnephew begins 800-km foot march to woo youngsters in Maharashtra

Sharad Pawar said Rohit Pawar has brought back hope and aspirations among the youths and it would be difficult for the state government to ignore the issues he is raising through the march

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew and MLA Rohit Pawar on Tuesday began a 45-day-long foot march to reach out to the youngsters in Maharashtra.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar during the Yuva Sangharsh Yatra in Pune on Tuesday. (Image on posted on X by Rohit Pawar)

Addressing a gathering in Pune, where the march was launched, senior Pawar said Rohit has brought back hope and aspirations among the youths and it would be difficult for the state government to ignore the issues he is raising through the march, named ‘Yuva Sangharsh Yatra’.

The march will cover a distance of 800 km between Pune and Nagpur with Rohit planning to walk over 18 km a day to reach Nagpur on December 7. He walked from Lal Mahal to Tilak Smarak in Pune on Tuesday.

“It is not a small yatra as it will be continued for 45 days and cover 800-km. It is a march of the next generation that will restore belief among youths and encourage them,” Sharad Pawar said, adding, “I believe the yatra will bring a change.”

Pawar gave credit to Rohit for the state government’s decision to withdraw its decision to recruit people on contractual basis. “The government withdrew the decision even before the yatra started. They cannot ignore this youth (Rohit Pawar) if they have to continue in power,” the veteran leader said and added that he is ready to meet chief minister Eknath Shinde along with Rohit to submit a charter of demands.

Rohit would walk over 10-12 km in the morning and another 7-8 km in the evening. Each will be concluded by holding a small gathering called “chowk sabha”, where Rohit would raise issues of youngsters and other issues being faced by the common people.

From Wednesday, he will start walking from Tulapur towards Ahmednagar. He is expected to cover 13 districts on foot.

“After being followed up by many, the state government withdrew recruitment on contractual basis. I hope our other demands will also be fulfilled. If not, then we will continue our struggle from legislative assembly to streets until demands are met,” said Rohit, who is an MLA from Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahmednagar.

“We want to reach out to as many people as we can and thus have decided to pass through hamlets and settlements. During the entire yatra, we are not going through national highways and major roads,” he said.