Former Union Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar on Wednesday expressed happiness that Sunetra Pawar was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The late Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar died on the morning of January 28 after the aircraft carrying him crashed while attempting to land at the Baramati airport in Pune district. His widow, Sunetra Pawar, stepped in to fill the post that became vacant.
NCP merger
Regarding the merger of the two NCP factions, the senior Pawar said discussions were held between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil, and not with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Pawar said, “Merger discussions were held between Ajit Pawar and Jayant Patil. CM Fadnavis was not involved in the talks. What right did he have to talk about it?” “At present, our entire focus is on taking care of everyone and moving forward together with those who are grieving. As of now, there is no discussion at all about any political decisions,” he added.
Budget session
Meanwhile, Pawar further said he could not attend Parliament on Budget Day for the first time in 58 years and expressed concern that the Union Budget may create difficulties for common people.
“Whether it is the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha of the country, I have been a member for the past 58 years. In all these 58 years, I have never been absent from Parliament on Budget Day. Unfortunately, due to an incident in my family, I could not be present in Parliament on the day of the Budget this time,” Pawar said. “However, from whatever I have read, I can see two or three issues. A new type of tax has been introduced, which appears likely to cause difficulties for the common people. From this Budget, it was expected that concrete steps would be taken to accelerate development works,” he added.
Indo-US trade deal
The NCP-SP chief also spoke about the Indo-US trade deal and said it may harm Indian farmers, adding that more details of the agreement are needed before any conclusion is drawn. “But from what has been made public by the US so far, it appears that arrangements have been made to allow them to export in the agricultural sector, which is a matter of concern for India. The US is a powerful country with greater economic strength. If it exports any important agricultural product to other countries, it will certainly have an impact on those countries and their farming communities. There is an expectation that such a situation should not arise in India’s agricultural sector,” he said.
