Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavi, who on Monday commenced his three day visit to the rainfall affected districts of Maharashtra, blamed the state government for the lack of planning and preparedness in handling the crisis. He said that it is the state government’s primary job to help farmers. “However, what we see today is the tendency within the Maha Vikas Aghadi government to pass on all its responsibility to the central government,” said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader. He assured that the central government will certainly provide aid. However, the state government cannot shrug off its responsibility.
Fadnavis, who is the leader of opposition in the state assembly, criticised CM Uddhav Thackeray and said that he should not compare himself to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is at the forefront to face any crisis and address it. “The CM should announce what the state government will provide as assistance to the farmers immediately. It is a big deal that the CM stepped out to visit the flood-ravaged areas. He should focus on helping farmers instead of making charges,” he noted.
Fadnavis said there was no offence in raising debt to tackle the present crisis. “The central government does not hold back the state's dues. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar is misleading people about Goods and Services Tax (GST) dues from the central government. The state government has the capacity to borrow Rs 1.20 lakh crore, of which it has borrowed Rs 50,000 crore. It has the capacity to borrow another Rs 70,000 crore,” he noted.
