Farmers' ire will prove costly for Mahayuti: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar

NASHIK: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday said there is huge resentment among farmers in Maharashtra, and this will prove costly for Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha elections. He was speaking at a rally in Satana for Congress's Dhule candidate Shobha Bachhav.

Pawar blamed Modi-led BJP govt for having no sympathy for farmers. "When onion farmers were expecting better rates, prices crashed because of Centre's ban on exports. Those who have no sympathy for farmers have no right to be in power," he said.

Earlier, talking to reporters in Nashik city, Pawar said voters' mood is against Mahayuti govt in Maharashtra and MVA will perform extremely well in the LS polls.

He further said there has been "uneasiness" among onion farmers in Nashik and other parts of Maharashtra because of the ban on onion exports. He stated their resentment against the Centre will be reflected in the election results.

He also criticized PM Modi for not addressing the onion issue during his Wednesday rally at Pimpalgaon Baswant in Nashik district. "The issue of onion farmers is genuine. The PM, who came to the onion belt, did not speak on their issues. This can't be accepted," he said.

Criticizing Raj Thackeray, Pawar said he doesn't know what place MNS has in the politics of Maharashtra. "His (Raj's) party is also not visible in Nashik," he said.

Pawar also said that when he was Union minister (2004-2014), he had helped the then Gujarat CM Modi a lot for the agricultural crisis in his state. He said that on one occasion, Modi called him and said he wanted to visit Israel to study farming techniques there. "So I took him there also," Pawar said.

At the rally, Pawar also said, "China has occupied 3,000 km of our land. It has also constructed roads along the Arunachal boundary. But no steps have been taken by the Centre in this regard." Pawar recalled how India's first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, had strengthened the armed forces after the war with China. He also criticised the act of NCP's Praful Patel of placing a 'jiretop', the headgear Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj used to wear, on PM Modi's head, stating it revealed Patel's "slavish attitude."

- Inputs from agencies