BJP has turned its gun on Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar after his attack on Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The party on Monday again targeted Mr Pawar over his interest in cricket and Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.
“Union ministers are more interested in the price of IPL teams rather than in the price of agriculture produce. As a result, farmers of Maharashtra are not getting reasonable rates for their produce,” state BJP president Devendra Fadnavis alleged.
Taking a jibe at Mr Modi and calling him a “restless groom”, Mr Pawar on Saturday had said that “some people” had started dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister. He even accused Mr Modi of creating conflict in the name of caste and religion to get sufficient seats and fulfill his dreams, referring to the communal riots that occurred at Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh.
Offended by the accusations, the BJP on Sunday reacted by saying that Mr Pawar had become tired of being a restless groom himself. It also ridiculed him saying that Mr Pawar harboured the ambition to become PM despite his party managing to win not more than seven-eight Lok Sabha seats.
Mr Fadnavis even claimed that the Central Agriculture Commission does not give due importance to the agriculture price committee of the state owing to which the state’s farmers do not get a rational price for their produce.
“The minimum support price (MSP) suggested by the state agriculture price committee is not considered by the
commission and it declares a lesser amount of what is suggested by our committee. Consequently, the farmers are deprived of getting a better price for their crop,” Mr Fadnavis
said.