Pawar failed farmers: Modi

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused NCP chief Sharad Pawar of playing politics in the name of farmers. Mr Modi also said that Mr Pawar, who was the Union agriculture minister for a decade, has done nothing for farmers.

The Prime Minister launched the "Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana", the flagship scheme of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday in Shirdi. Besides this, Mr Modi dedicated various projects, including the new darshan queue complex at Shri Saibaba Samadhi Temple in Shirdi and Ayush Hospital at Ahmednagar civil hospital.

Addressing a rally in Ahmednagar, Mr Modi said, “Those, who have played politics in the name of the farmers have made you (farmers) crave for every drop of water.”

The Prime Minister said that his government is working to complete 26 irrigation projects that have been pending in Maharashtra for many decades. “These irrigation projects will benefit our farmers in drought-prone areas,” he said.

Mr Modi further said he has performed the "Jal Pujan" of Nilwande Dam, which was approved in 1970. “This project has been pending for the last five decades. Our government has expedited it. The left bank canal has been commenced and soon the right bank canal will be started,” he said.

“But few people in Maharashtra have only done politics in the name of farmers. I personally respect one senior leader from Maharashtra who has been Union agriculture minister for many years. But what had this leader done for the farmers? During his seven-year tenure, he had procured `350-lakh crores worth of food grains on MSP. But our government has paid `13.50-lakh crores of MSP in seven years,” Mr Modi added.

During Mr Pawar’s tenure as Union agriculture minister, he said that farmers had to rely on intermediaries, resulting in lengthy delays in receiving their payments. “For months, farmers had to await their payments. Our government gave MSP money directly into the bank accounts of farmers,” he said.

The Prime Minister mentioned PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, under which the small farmers received `2,60,000 crores, including `26,000 crores for the small farmers of Maharashtra. He said that under the Maharashtra government’s Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana, farmers will get an extra `6,000, which means that farmers from Maharashtra will get `12,000.

Reacting to Mr Modi's address, Maharashtra NCP chief Jayant Patil posted a video on his X account stating there is a contradiction in the Prime Minister’s statement. “The Prime Minister, who had said Sharad Pawar saheb has done nothing for the farmers in 60 years. In his earlier speech, he had presented the facts about Pawar saheb’s works,” Mr Patil said.