NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the unrest on university campuses, especially in JNU.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on the unrest on university campuses, especially in JNU. Replying to questions at a press conference here, Mr Pawar alleged that politics of communal polarisation was being played in the country since the Narendra Modi government assumed office.
“Communal fever... Temperature is rising. An atmosphere of fear is being created in which small groups and minorities are being targeted. But there is no place for such an important issue in the Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat programme,” he said.
Asked whether he felt the Modi government was being vindictive in ED raids on NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, Mr Pawar initially said one should not react immediately to such actions. Later, he said there are “no bad days” for those who have been agreeing with the government.
Criticising the Budget proposals, Mr Pawar, who was agriculture minister in the Manmohan Singh government for 10 years, said he did not find the Union Budget to be a “pro-farmer exercise” but felt there were only a “lot of slogans”.
He did not share the government’s optimism that the income of farmers could be doubled within the next few years. If this was to be achieved, there should be a substantial step-up in the outlay for agriculture each year, he said.
He said the move to tax 60 per cent of withdrawals from provident fund and a ceiling on employers’ contribution would “lead to unrest”.
He also said the raising of service tax to 15 per cent would lead to further price rise. On the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, Mr Pawar said the NCP is with the LDF in Kerala and negotiations on seat-sharing with the LDF would be over in a week’s time.
In West Bengal, the state NCP favours fighting the battle along with the Left and the Congress but in Assam, the NCP will contest eight to 10 seats on its own.
