Sharad Pawar meets PM Modi, seeks assistance for distressed farmers in Maharashtra

As the Maharashtra stalemate continues, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday held a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament to discuss farmers' crisis in the state. Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also attended the meeting, which lasted for 45 minutes.

During the discussions, Pawar handed over a letter to PM Modi underlining the issues of the farmers in Maharashtra and sought immediate Central assistance for them along with a complete and unconditional farm loan waiver.

Sources quoted by Zee News say that Centre might announce a relief package soon for the distressed farmers.

"Due to the prevalence of President's Rule in the state, your urgent intervention is highly necessitated. I shall be grateful, if you take immediate steps to initiate massive relief measures and ameliorate the miseries of the distressed farmers," Pawar's letter read.

"I've collected data on crop damage from two districts but damage because of excessive rains extends to the rest of Maharashtra, including Marathwada and Vidarbha. I'm collecting details and information regarding the same, which should be sent to you at the earliest," it stated. 

The letter further added that "In the last 10 months, 44 farmers from Nashik district have committed suicides in the face of crisis," the letter by Pawar also stated.

The NCP supremo also invited PM Modi to take part in an event related to a sugar mill in Pune on November 30.

PM Modi on Tuesday had praised NCP for showing discipline during parliamentary proceedings.

The Governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday took stock of the damage to crops caused by unseasonal rains during October and November and announced the financial relief to the affected farmers.

A relief of Rs 8,000 per hectare up to two hectares for agricultural Kharif crops and relief of Rs 18,000 per hectare up to two hectares for horticulture/ perennial crops was announced.

Pawar on Monday held talks with Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Both parties have been locked in talks with Shiv Sena over government formation after the Uddhav Thackeray-led party's alliance with the BJP fell apart. BJP and Shiv Sena fought Maharashtra elections together but fell out over the later's demand of '50-50' formula or a rotational chief minister. 

Reports said another round of meetings between the leaders of the two parties is planned for Wednesday. 

Soon after Pawar's meeting with Sonia Gandhi to discuss Maharashtra political situation, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut the Maratha stalwart at his residence in Delhi.

Blaming the BJP for failing to form the government without taking its name, Raut expressed confidence that the state will soon have a government. 

"The responsibility to form the government was not ours, the ones who had that responsibility ran away, but I am confident that soon we will have a government in place," Raut said. 

The PM Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre fought the Maharashtra election in alliance with Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena. However, the two parties broke-up days after the results were announced due to a bitter tussle over power-sharing in the state. Sena wanted to share power with the BJP, the single-largest party in Maharashtra, under the 50:50 formula and a rotational CM. However, the BJP rejected the demand.

President's Rule was imposed in the state last week after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's report to Centre that no stable government was possible in Maharashtra under the current political scenario.

Shiv Sena and BJP contested the recently-held assembly elections together but failed to reach an agreement for government formation. After BJP failed to stake claim to form the government, the Shiv Sena has tried to rope in NCP and Congress for an alliance government. 

In the recently-concluded assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 105 seats while the Shiv Sena has 56 MLAs in the 288-member assembly. NCP and Congress won 54 and 44 seats, respectively.