In response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments on Sharad Pawar, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday that PM Modi “crushed” farmers and questioned his role in promoting their welfare.
How far along are you, PM Modi, in helping farmers? Tell me, then, what you are doing to help farmers and how you defeated them. Only inquiring of others as to what he accomplished. remarked the chief of the Shiv Sena (UBT).
“Pawar will consider his work with farmers. Pawar and the farmers are at odds, but what did PM Modi do for them? inquired Uddhav.
“Why did the northern farmers spend a whole year waiting on the road in the rain, wind, and cold? After that, why was the Black Law repealed? He remarked, mocking Prime Minister Modi.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar said on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make remarks that take into account his constitutional status in response to the PM’s jab.
“The position of Prime Minister is a crucial one. A prime minister need to make a declaration considering his constitutional authority. I’m not sure why he chose to target me. However, I believe that his statements stemmed from improper briefing. At a news conference in Mumbai, Sharad Pawar said, “I will respond to whatever statement the PM made about me while maintaining the importance and dignity of the PM post.”
During the 2004–14 UPA administration run by Congress, Pawar held the position of minister of agriculture.
PM Modi had observed that while the BJP-led government was actively empowering farmers, other people in Maharashtra were involved in political activities under the pretext of supporting farmers, a subtle jab at UPA Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.
Sharad Pawar also said that the PM may have made these remarks out of fear of losing power.
“He (PM Modi) went to Shirdi to seek the blessings of Sai Baba; why was Sharad Pawar’s darshan required there? Looking at the national picture, you will find that the BJP is not in power in many states, or that their administration came about as a result of sabotage by other parties. Additionally, the BJP administration is weak wherever it exists. It’s possible that the PM’s fragility and fear of losing power compelled him to make these remarks, Pawar continued.
The leader of the NCP also discussed the dire circumstances he encountered while serving as the agricultural minister for ten years during the Congress administration.
“I would want to clarify my position over the remarks made by Prime Minister Modi in Shirdi regarding my time as Agriculture Minister. From 2004 until 2014, I served as Minister of Agriculture for ten years. On my first day in office as Agriculture Minister, I had a problem,” Pawar said.
“I had to sign a document for the import of food grains for the Public Distribution System; otherwise, our PDS distribution would have been stopped,” he said. I then made the decision to raise the minimum support price (MSP) of a number of commodities; in fact, the MSPs of several crops were raised significantly.
The head of the NCP said that the circumstances do not benefit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the run-up to the state assembly elections in the different states.
“It seems to me that the BJP is not garnering the necessary support in the assembly elections. I haven’t yet evaluated for the Lok Sabha elections. I see a picture against BJP in the five assembly elections. Governments will shift everywhere, but I can’t guarantee that,” he said.
In addition, Pawar said that the federal administration was “completely confused” about the current Israel-Hamas confrontation.
“I have not seen any uncertainty on the Palestine and Ghaza problem during our past regimes. After a few days, our foreign minister changed his position on the matter, contrary to what our government had first said. India has always supported Palestine, thus I haven’t seen any changes in the country’s stance on the Gaza and Palestine issues until recently. However, this administration is utterly perplexed by the matter,” he said.
