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That isn't Marie Antoinette, it's Sharad Pawar saying, if the common man can afford cold drinks, he can very well buy veggies at high prices

Sharad Pawar at the Iftaar party hosted by the NCP in Dongri on Saturday. Pic/Santosh Nagwekar

"They can spend Rs 11 for one bottle of cold drink, but think vegetables are costly," said a disgruntled Union Minister for Agriculture, Sharad Pawar while addressing the media in Mumbai on Saturday.

Pawar was reacting to a question asked by a mediaperson over when the prices of essential commodities were likely to dip. "The inflation is already low; it has come down from 17 to 10. The prices are also low," he retorted.

Common man miffed
However, Mumbai citizens don't quite agree with the minister. Thane resident Sunit Kekliwal said, "The minister has lost it. We don't drink soft drinks every day, but vegetables are a daily need. This is bizarre!"

Another city resident Corni Fernandes, echoes Kekliwal's sentiments. "Vegetables are an essential commodity. Only when we're done buying them do we go for luxury items like cold drinks," she said.

In Mumbai, but missed Mumbai unit Pawar was in Mumbai earlier last week to meet party executive members of the state. The meeting was held in a hall opposite the Y B Chavan auditorium, with prominent leaders of the NCP and party workers present. However, according to a party source, Pawar's appointment with the Mumbai unit of the party had to be cancelled. "The meeting was scheduled after lunch, but other wings, including the youth and women wing, requested a separate meeting with him. He decided to cancel the meeting with the Mumbai unit altogether. "It was important, we had to discuss our strategy for the BMC elections," added the insider.

Narendra Verma, Mumbai unit chief of NCP, confirmed that their meeting with Pawar was postponed. The BMC elections could be discussed later, he added. 

Uddhav, who?
During his speech, Pawar commented on the newly coined term 'saffron terrorism': "If saffron terrorism is an insult to the tricolour because it's one of the colours on our flag, we need to remember that even green is a colour in the flag," he said.

Pawar also took a dig at Shiv Sena  leader Uddhav Thackeray, by insisting that he couldn't remember his name, while he was on the dais. Eventually, he had to be prompted by those around.

What was the other Prez up to?
Nitin Gadkari, BJP's national president meanwhile, was in Mulund on Saturday morning, at a Jain-Gujarati function. Gadkari went missing for half an hour at the function. He was apparently consulting a Jain rishi present there. "We tried finding out what they spoke about, but couldn't," said a local BJP leader from Mulund. It is believed that most leaders take the advice of Jain rishis. "The rishis are well learned and are said to possess objects with powers," said another leader.