Nagpur: Leader of Opposition in Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has boycotted Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s customary tea party because the State is facing one of the worst agrarian crisis and the government has proved inadequate in solving their problems.
Wadettiwar sought complete loan waiver for all farmers. “Our farmers are committing suicide due to financial troubles on account of crop loss and not being able to get a proper price for their produce,” he said, adding that the cotton farmers were the worst hit and that has eventually led to a shortage of raw material.
Launching a scathing attack on the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar Government in State, Wadettiwar called the Mahayuti Government as a “puppet government” that has its strings moved from Delhi.
Addressing a press conference at Ravi Bhavan on the eve of Winter Session of State Legislature on Wednesday, Wadettiwar said, the Government had failed to address pressing issues such as escalating agriculture crisis, corruption, worsening law and order situation etc.
Wadettiwar cited a surge in riots, disrupted peace and an alarming number of farmers’ suicides. “According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, as many as 22,746 suicides were reported in Maharashtra last year. This means that one farmer or farm labourer has committed suicide every hour in the State,” he said. “Unseasonal rains are wreaking havoc on paddy and orange growers in Vidarbha and the Government is yet to pay the crop damage compensation of 2022,” he pointed out.
Wadettiwar also criticised the lukewarm response to the Shetkari Samman Yojana and accused the State Government of channeling funds into Shasan Aplya Daari events while farmers suffered substantial losses in every region. “Government is trying to suppress issues like the breakdown of law and order situation, increasing corruption and it has a reluctance to address critical issues during the session,” Wadettiwar claimed.
The Leader of Opposition also criticised the Government’s approach in declaration of drought and said that it favoured certain constituencies of ministers over the others. “A staggering 1,000 heavily affected talukas are yet to receive help from the government,” he stated. He accused the government of only providing superficial measures like revenue exemption, electricity bill exemption and crop loan restructuring.
Wadettiwar claimed that Maharashtra faces more severe drought than Karnataka, with over 4 lakh acres of agricultural land damaged in 91 talukas across 16 districts due to unseasonal rains. Wadettiwar pointed out the adverse impact of the Centre’s import-export policies on farmers which lead to a decline in prices for key crops like soybean and cotton.
He called for a complete waiver of farmers’ loans and accused the state government of lacking self-respect and misusing central machinery to eliminate political opposition in the State. The LoP also accused the government of manipulating the reservation issue to fuel discord between communities for political gain.
He asserted that the government’s refusal to conduct a caste-based census and ‘no’ to five per cent Muslim reservation are clear indications of their divisive tactics. Wadettiwar claimed that the Government lacks the courage to expand the Cabinet. “As a demonstration of their discontent, the opposition, under the Maha Vikas Aghadi banner, has decided to boycott the government’s tea party invitation,” he informed. The Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council and Shiv Sena (UBT ) leader Ambadas Danve was also present at the press meet.
The Congress leader also taunted the government for what it called “its failure to act decisively because of lack of authority”. Wadettiwar said: “This government is a mere puppet and the strings are controlled from Delhi. The top leaders are busy prostrating before their Delhi masters, hence it is not surprising that the affairs of the state are getting neglected.”
Citing recent statistics released by the NCRB, Wadettiwar said that Nagpur has become the crime capital. “We used to call Nagpur a city of oranges. Under this government it seems like a city of thieves with a record number of housebreaking cases being reported here,” said Wadettiwar.
