Pune: Amidst continuing impasse between the Centre and farmers who are protesting over the contentious farm laws, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Monday alleged that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has insulted the farmers by not yielding an inch despite nine rounds of talks with the agitating farmers.
“The Centre’s apathy towards resolving farmers’ issues is evident through its attitude towards the farmers agitating against the new farm laws…why it is even after a frustrating eight or nine rounds of talks, the stalemate has not been broken. Clearly, the Central government is not interested in understanding farmers’ problems,” remarked Pawar.
He further said that each of the three parties the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government are wholeheartedly supporting the protesting farmers.
“We (NCP), too, will be joining in the on-going protest of the farmers soon. Our chief Sharad Pawar has made it clear that the NCP stood firm with the agitating farmers,” said Ajit Pawar, who was speaking on the occasion of the ‘Agriculture Technology Week’ that commenced on Monday at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Baramati in the presence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
Speaking on the results of Gram Panchayat elections in the State, the Deputy Chief Minister said that results were in favour of the MVA government.
“The overall political picture in Maharashtra appears to be undergoing a big change after the results of Legislative Council elections held last year. The Gram Panchayat results, too, seem to be a step in that direction,” he said, adding that in most places, the Congress, NCP and the Sena had retained seats in their respective strongholds.
When questioned about Shiv Sena’s demand for renaming Aurangabad city as ‘Sambhajinagar’ and the fierce opposition by the Congress, Pawar said that any difference of opinions among the three constituents of the MVA will be sorted out by the MVA leaders.
