In last leg of campaign, Sharad Pawar slams Shinde govt for agrarian crisis

PTI Mumbai: NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar on Monday said the Mahayuti government had failed to address Maharashtra's agrarian crisis and claimed more than 20,000 farmers had ended their lives under the Eknath Shinde dispensation. He was addressing a rally for his party candidate and sitting MLA Rohit Pawar in Karjat-Jamkhed in Ahilyanagar district (formerly Ahmednagar) on the last day of campaigning for the November 20 assembly polls. The policies of the Centre and state government were making farming unviable, leading to distress among farmers, which was driving them to suicide, the former Union agriculture minister said. "The real reason behind these suicides is clear. Farming has become unaffordable. Under the Mahayuti government, more than 20,000 farmers have committed suicide. Despite this, the government continues to ignore their plight. The government waives loans of industrialists but does not extend this benefit to distressed farmers," he said. The Mahayuti comprises Chief Minister Shinde's Shiv Sena, the BJP and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.

Pawar said just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "unfulfilled promise" of depositing Rs 15 lakh in the accounts of citizens, the Shinde government's flagship Ladki Bahin Yojana too would be abandoned after the polls. Under the scheme, women with an annual family income of less than Rs 2.5 lakh are given Rs 1500 as monthly aid. The Mahayuti has been claiming that this amount will be raised to Rs 2100 if it retains power in the state. "In the past few years, 67,000 complains have been filed regarding violence against women. Additionally, 64,000 women are missing. Nearly 62 lakh people have no jobs in the state. These are the harsh realities," he said attacking the ruling alliance.

He also attacked BJP leader Ram Shinde, who is pitted against Rohit Pawar, without taking the former MLA's name. Pawar said the Karjat- Jamkhed region lacked development because the p r e v i o u s elected representative did nothing. Shinde had won the seat in 2009 and 2014 before being defeated by Rohit Pawar in 019 by a margin of more than 43,000 votes.