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Sharad Pawar criticises Centre during Indapur rally
The veteran politician was addressing a farmers’ rally at Indapur in Maharashtra’s Pune district in the presence of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders like Sanjay Raut, Balasaheb Thorat and Supriya Sule
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government over its farmers policies, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP SP) chief Sharad Pawar claimed that the Centre has failed to keep its promise of doubling the farmers’ income by 2024. The veteran politician was addressing a farmers’ rally at Indapur in Maharashtra’s Pune district in the presence of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders like Sanjay Raut, Balasaheb Thorat and Supriya Sule.
“The situation now is different in the country. The upcoming (Lok Sabha) elections are very important. The prime minister had once assured that farmers’ income would be doubled by 2024, but that has not happened,” said Pawar.
Pawar said, “This government is anti-farmers. They promised to double the income of farmers, but the ground situation is different. Farmers doubled production, but the irony is that their income came down. This government banned onion and sugar exports. They promoted ethanol and later banned additional blending. All the policies are against the farmers,” he added.
Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, which elect 48 MPs, will be held in five phases between April 19 and May 20. The 83-year-old NCP leader said the country’s farmers have demanded relief over onions. “But those in power do not care about the farmers,” he said at the rally in Indapur, which is a part of the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. Pawar’s daughter and three-term MP Supriya Sule will be contesting from Baramati.
During the rally, Pawar’s grandson and MLA Rohit Pawar came down heavily on Ajit Pawar and other NCP leaders who parted ways from Sharad Pawar.
Speaking during the event, Rohit Pawar said, “The BJP were unable to defeat Sharad Pawar for the last fifty years, hence they sought the assistance of our people and used them against Sharad Pawar. However, many individuals are still supporting us. It is unfair to disparage Sharad Pawar because of his age. He’s still energetic and works more hours than most young individuals.”
The former Union agriculture minister said Sena (UBT) leader Raut was put behind bars after he spoke against the government, referring to the Rajya Sabha MP’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case in 2022. “Despite his hard work, Arvind Kejriwal has been sent to jail. In the last Delhi elections, the BJP won only 2 per cent of the seats and the rest were in favour of Kejriwal (AAP),” he said.
The ED on Thursday arrested Kerjiwal in an excise policy-linked money laundering case. On Friday, he was remanded in ED’s custody for six days.
The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP split last year after Ajit Pawar and several MLAs loyal to him broke away to join the Maharashtra government. In 2022, Shinde triggered a similar upheaval in the original Shiv Sena to become the chief minister with BJP’s help.
(with agency inputs)
