Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday suggested he was not the one who gave any farm loan waiver assurance before the polls, comments coming after the Congress accused the Mahayuti government of reneging on the promise of providing debt relief to farmers.
The Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) registered a landslide victory in the November 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections by winning 230 out of the 288 seats.
Talking to reporters, senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat accused the Mahayuti government of not fulfilling the promises it made ahead of the elections.
“Farmers are going through difficult times and it is the responsibility of the state government to provide some relief to farmers. Ahead of the elections, the government made several promises and assurances but after coming to power it is not doing anything on it. So people feel that they have been cheated,” he said.
“The government is spending on some sectors like anything but has taken no decision on farmers’ loan waiver. It is unfortunate to see that this state government is not keen on offering any relief to farmers,” the former state minister said.
Later during the day, when reporters asked Pawar, who holds the finance portfolio, about Thorat’s criticism, he refused to give a direct answer.
“Did I give the assurance of loan waiver ahead of the elections?” he asked in response to the question.
When it was pointed out that the assurance was made by the Mahayuti alliance, Pawar reiterated, “Did I give the assurance? Did I?” Soon afterwards he left the venue without speaking further.
Farmer leader Raju Shetti has also voiced his discontent and criticised the government for what he described as neglect of farmers’ issues, including low market prices for key crops such as soybean and cotton.
In March this year, Ajit Pawar, while speaking at an event in hometown Baramati in Pune, had said the current financial situation of the state does not allow for a crop loan waiver and asked farmers to pay instalments in time rather than wait for an announcement in this regard.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had defended Pawar over the remark saying the latter had stated the “government’s position”.
