'Want to Tell Govt...': Why This Maharashtra MLA Got Her Baby to the Assembly

Deolali MLA Saroj Babulal Ahire brought her 2.5-month-old baby Prashansak to the Vidhan Bhavan in Nagpur.

Saroj Babulal Ahire, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and an MLA from Deolali brought her son Prashansak to the first day of the Assembly session. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Producer & Editor: Eshwar

Video Inputs: Nation Next, Dilip Kamble

The first day of the Maharashtra Assembly's Winter Session in Nagpur on Monday, 19 December, being held physically in the winter capital after a gap of two years, saw its youngest attendee — 2.5-months-old baby Prashansak Pravin Wagh.

Born on 30 September this year, little Prashansak is the son of Saroj Babulal Ahire, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and an MLA from Deolali in Nashik district.

Flanked by mediapersons wanting to get a good click of her baby, Ahire posed for photographs and met several party colleagues before she entered the Vidhan Bhavan.

Saroj Ahire enters Nagpur's Vidhan Bhavan with baby Prashansak.

(Photo: The Quint)

'Wanted to Send a Message...'

Speaking to the media, Ahire said that she has always advocated for the cause of women and children and headed several committees during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

"I have always advocated for building more and more 'Hirkani Kaksh' in public and government buildings for lactating mothers to be able to feed their babies. There is a need for them everywhere. We have them at bus stops, but I urge the state government to increase their numbers and build them in the Mumbai and Nagpur Assembly buildings too," she said.

Saroj Ahire meets Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde with baby Prashansak.

(Photo: Twitter/CMO Maharashtra)

Ahire said that as much as she is responsible towards her child as a mother, she is equally responsible to the people of her constituency.

"Due to COVID-19, the Assembly session could not be held in Nagpur for the past two years. My son is just 2.5 months old, but the Assembly session is held to raise issues of the people. I am a mother, but I also represesnt the people of my constituency. I had to come to raise their issues, even if I had to come with my baby," she said

Baby Prashansak with Saroj Ahire at Nagpur's Vidhan Bhavan.

(Photo: The Quint)

Former Banker, First-Time MLA

A former banker, Ahire is the daughter of former MLA and senior NCP leader Babulal Somaji, a close confidante of party supremo Sharad Pawar.

Ahire started her political career with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and got elected as a councillor from Deolali in 2017. She joined the NCP ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections and got elected as an MLA.

She married Pravin Wagh, a dentist by profession during the pandemic, with Pawar himself in attendance.

Ahire continues to head the Women and Children's Development Committee she started heading during the tenure of the MVA government.