Won’t support govt if Sena quits, says Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, while addressing the media on Saturday, claimed that he can give in writing that his party does not support the Shiv Sena or BJP.
Pawar said that the BJP has failed at the state level in Maharashtra and, therefore, Sena should withdraw its support to the BJP.
The BJP has been ruling the Maharashtra state since the last two and a half years. According to Pawar, the only way for BJP to continue its reign is by exempting farmers of all taxes.
Pawar added, “Only if the BJP brings about exemption of taxes for farmers in Maharashtra then their government will rule for five years in the state. Just like they have promised to exempt taxes of farmers in Uttar Pradesh, they should implement it in Maharashtra too.”
Pawar criticised the BJP government’s demonetisation, claiming that all the other political parties were affected by demonetisation except BJP.
“In Malegaon, thousands of workers in the powerloom sector have returned to their villages as they were hit by unemployment due to demonetisation. The employment sector has been adversely affected due to this decision and its inadequate implementation,” he said.
Considering the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, Pawar accepted that NCP has not been able to make its mark in Mumbai in the last fifteen years. He said, “I cannot promise you that we will change entire Mumbai if we win the civic elections. But I know that we will perform well and gain a decent number of constituencies.”
Pawar also said that the civic polls are more of a battle between the Sena and BJP which has overshadowed every other political party.
NCP has filed a complaint and asked for an enquiry in the surplus expenditure by the BJP for the civic poll campaign. NCP spokesperson
“Only if the BJP brings about exemption of taxes for farmers in Maharashtra then their government will rule for five years in the state.“SHARAD PAWAR/ NCP president
Nawab Malik said, “We have lodged a complaint and have demanded an enquiry as the BJP has spent around Rs 500 crore in advertising for its BMC election campaign.”
Comparing the current state of the BJP to the past, Pawar said that the BJP has now become more about one person. “Currently, the BJP is about one person and continuously claims the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was never about one person during the reign of leaders like Vajpayee or Advani,” Pawar added.