Support to farmers triggers a war of words between BJP and MVA

A letter by NCP supremo and two-time Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has triggered a big debate between the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi and the Opposition BJP.

BJP’s Leader of the Opposition and ex-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis accused the MVA dispensation of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress of “double standards” just to target prime minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led NDA.

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“…bahut log behti Ganga me haath doh rahe hain…,” said Fadnavis, pointing out that in at least eight states two or three of the farm laws are in implementation in some way or the other, including in Maharashtra.

The MVA allies, including Shiv Sena, have come out in support of the agitating farmers.

A letter by Pawar when he was agriculture minister in the Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA government to the then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and her Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan urging to amend the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in their states to allow the private sector to play an important role in the field, has gone viral on social media.

Speaking on that, NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said: “The model APMC Act 2003 was introduced by the Vajpayee government. However many state governments were reluctant to implement it at that point in time. Pawar saheb after assuming charge as the Union agriculture minister tried to form a broader consensus amongst State Agriculture Marketing Boards by inviting suggestions for the implementation of the Act.”

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According to Tapase, to date, the farmers across the country are benefitting from the implementation of the said Act, which was fine-tuned by Pawar to protect farmers' interest.

Fadnavis, however, pointed out that Pawar had not opposed the farm bills. “He wanted deliberations. After the suspension of MPs, he undertook a day-long fast,” he said.

Fadnavis further pointed out that laws like land leasing and the model APMC Act were being implemented in the state.

Support to Bandh

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena said Bharat Bandh is not a political bandh and is aimed to strengthen the voice of farmers. “Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has asked people to be part of the Bandh voluntarily,” party’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut told reporters in Mumbai.

“When the entire country was in lockdown, farmers were working in their fields…now for the past 12 days they are sitting in Delhi borders battling cold,” he said.

“Farmers are farmers, not of Punjab or Haryana only…as a country we need to support them…they need us now,” said Raut, a Rajya Sabha member and executive editor of Saamana, the Shiv Sena mouthpiece.