NCP chief Sharad Pawar breaks silence, says BJP raked up his 2010 letter seeking reforms to divert attention

He claimed when he had written it in 2010 as agriculture minister, he had suggested reforms to APMC Act. However, the three laws brought by the BJP-led Centre do not even mention APMC, he said

Two days after a controversy erupted over a letter written by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in the past seeking amendment to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act to allow private parties in the sector, the veteran leader has broken his silence on the issue.

Sharad Pawar. (HT FILE)

Pawar claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders who raked up the issue may have not read the letter properly. He said when he had written it in 2010 as the Union agriculture minister, he had suggested reforms to the APMC Act. However, the three laws brought by the BJP-led Centre do not even mention APMC, he said. Pawar also alleged the BJP is “purposely” raking up the letter to divert attention from the laws, and there is no need to give importance to their claims.

“There is no doubt that I had written the letter. But I had sought reforms to the APMC Act. They [BJP] would have understood it if they had read the letter properly. Their legislations don’t even mention APMC. It is a conspiracy to divert attention by taking our name. Thus, there is no need to give [the issue] importance,” Pawar told reporters in Delhi on Tuesday after his meeting with Union defence minister Rajnath Singh. The veteran leader said he had not met Singh to discuss the farm laws, but to get a speedy approval for the proposed airport at Purandar near Pune.

The veteran leader has backed the farmers’ protest against the laws, along with other Opposition parties. However, he refused to comment on the reforms brought into the sector now or in the past, when he had held the agriculture portfolio in Dr Manmohan Singh’s government.

Pawar said he wants the collective stand of the opposition parties to reflect on the issue, for which a meeting will be held on Wednesday. Opposition leaders will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind to express their concerns over the three laws enacted by the Centre in September and seek their repeal. “Tomorrow five-six leaders from different parties are going to discuss and take a collective stand on the matter. So I don’t want to express any opinion as an individual today. We have also sought an appointment with the President tomorrow [Wednesday] to present our collective thoughts before him,” he said.

“I don’t want to give any signs from NCP or from myself. I want a collective thinking to reflect on our stand as Opposition,” he said when pressed for a comment.