Sena not consulted over farmers’ issue, skips cabinet meet

The ongoing farmers’ agitation for a loan waiver and a minimum price guarantee has battered the already strained ties between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, with Sena ministers on Wednesday staying away from the cabinet meeting.

By doing so they wanted to put across a point that they were miffed with the BJP for not taking the Shiv Sena into confidence on the farmers’ issues.

Sena minister Subhash Desai said, “We met the chief minister in the morning (Wednesday) and made it clear that we will not attend the cabinet meeting. The government should ideally consult the Shiv Sena and find an immediate solution to grant a complete loan waiver to farmers. The plan should be first shown to party chief Uddhav Thackeray.”

Desai said CM Devendra Fadnavis has not discussed the matter with the Shiv Sena .

“We have been backing the farmers in their protests right from the outset. Yet, when the CM met farmers’ representatives last week, we were neither called nor consulted. The BJP ministers had a late-night meeting on Tuesday at the chief minister’s residence to discuss the issue, but the Sena ministers were again not invited. Aren’t we a part of the cabinet?” he asked.

He added the government should take a decision to grant loan waiver amicably with the Shiv Sena. Last week, Fadnavis attempted to quell the protests by discussing the issue with a few farmers’ representatives and promised a ~30,000-crore loan waiver for small and marginal farmers by October 31.

The Sena also criticised the BJP in its mouthpiece Saamana on Wednesday, directly targeting Fadnavis over his statement that the government will only talk to real farmers and those protesting are politically driven. “We have a suggestion. Only real farmers in the government should talk to farmers’ leaders. Do you have even one real farmer in your cabinet? Don’t simply talk about farmers’ welfare,” the party said in the editorial.