The move to reach out to Opposition parties Congress and NCP has been viewed as an about-turn by the cautious state government, which had said earlier that it would only engage with farmer groups.
In what was a rare meeting in the Capital, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday at his 6, Janpath residence as part of his government's outreach on an impending farm loan waiver for over 30 lakh farmers in the state. The BJP-led government in Maharashtra has so far opposed a sweeping farm loan waiver and is reaching out to allies, farm activists and Opposition parties before taking a final call on the modalities of the loan waiver.
The move to reach out to Opposition parties Congress and NCP has been viewed as an about-turn by the cautious state government, which had said earlier that it would only engage with farmer groups.
In Delhi to attend NDA presidential poll nominee Ram Nath Kovind's nomination filing, Fadnavis met Pawar along with senior NCP leaders Sunil Tatkare, Jayant Patil and Dhananjay Munde, and was accompanied by his Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil.
Sources said that Fadnavis also had a one-on-one meeting with Pawar.
"In an effort to provide relief to a maximum number of farmers, we are undertaking marathon meetings with farm activists, allies and opposition parties to build a consensus on a farm loan waiver. I have already met (Shiv Sena chief) Uddhav Thackeray, (NCP leader) Ashok Chavan, Dhananjay Munde and Raju Shetti for this purpose," said Patil, who was also appointed as head of a special ministerial group by the CM, tasked with the outreach to farm groups.
Patil added that the meeting between Fadnavis and Pawar was positive in nature and the former Union agriculture minister patiently heard the state government's plans. The farm loan waiver, he said, was going to be divided into two categories. "We have proposed that we will waive off outstanding loan amounts of up to Rs 1 lakh as on June 30, 2016. There are 83 per cent of the farmers who fall in this category and it will cost the state exchequer Rs 25,000 crore. Other than that, even those farmers who are repaying their loans on time would be included in a separate package," said Patil.
A farm-loan waiver for both categories of farmers would cost the state exchequer Rs 37,000 crore.
Tatkare on talks
NCP leader Sunil Tatkare said that a variety of facets on the farm loan waiver were discussed with Fadnavis in Delhi.
There are many more such discussions that will happen ahead, he added.
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