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‘PM has time for Kolkata but not for farmers in Delhi’: Sharad Pawar
Pawar was addressing a party workers’ meeting at Ranchi’s Harmu ground.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for flying to poll-bound West Bengal for election campaigning instead of meeting the protesting farmers hardly a few kilometres away from his residence in New Delhi.
Addressing a party workers’ meeting at Ranchi’s Harmu ground, Pawar said, “The farmers’ agitation has entered its 100th day on Saturday. Thousands of farmers from Punjab, Harayana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are sitting in the national capital seeking a solution to their problems. The Prime Minister has time to go to Kolkata today and rally against the government there but he has no time to meet the agitating farmers hardly 20 kilometres from his residence in the national capital”.
Pawar was in Ranchi in a bid to strengthen the party base in Jharkhand. The NCP has a single legislator, Kamlesh Kumar Singh, in Jharkhand.
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Hitting at the BJP government, Pawar said, “The party, which is in power, has the responsibility to ensure brotherhood among every class of the society but the BJP is spreading communal poison and disharmony in the country.”
Addressing the gathering, Pawar said, “I was told that a large number of people from different districts of the state wanted to participate in the rally but they were requested to gather in limited number amid fears of the pandemic".
Taking a dig at the prime minister's 'Thaali Bajao' appeal, he said, “People from Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal come to Maharashtra for work and have played a big role in state’s development. During the Covid outbreak, we have seen their pain. NCP workers took to the street to help them. But, what did the BJP government do? It asked people to beat thaali. I would like to say only beating thaali would not work, food is also needed on the plate.”
Lauding the contribution of former team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the world of cricket, former BCCI chairperson Pawar said he felt proud to stand in Dhoni’s hometown and address his party workers.
NCP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Prafulla Patel said, “Jharkhand is a land of tribals. Pawar ji has done many things for the upliftment and developments of tribals in Maharashtra. We want to do the same development here.”
State NCP president Kamlesh Kumar Singh, who is also the legislator from Hussainabad, said, “We will make our presence felt across 24 districts of the state very soon, as the arrival of national leaders has infused a new enthusiasm among party workers.”
