‘Former PM Manmohan Singh Cared About Farmers, Nobody Is Bothered Now’: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said former prime minister Manmohan Singh was sensitive towards farmers and had visited Amravati in Maharashtra after learning about some deaths by suicide, but nobody is bothered about their issues now.

He was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the culmination of Shetkari Aakrosh Morcha in Pune.

The foot march set out from the foothills of Shivneri Fort in Pune district on Thursday was led by NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MP Amol Kolhe.

Several leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), including Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT), Balasaheb Thorat of Congress, and NCP leaders Kolhe and Supriya Sule were present.

“I remember the then prime minister Manmohan Singh visited Amravati after some farmers had died by suicide. He was sensitive towards the people as well as farmers. Mr Singh also waived farm loans worth Rs 72,000 crore at that time,” said Mr Pawar, who was the agriculture minister in the erstwhile Manmohan Singh cabinet.

But now, nobody is even looking at the difficulties being faced by farmers, he added.

“This ‘Shetkari Aakrosh Morcha’ is not limited to Pune but it has reached the entire country,” Mr Pawar said.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Raut said NCP MPs Supriya Sule and Amol Kolhe were suspended from Parliament for raising issues of farmers.

He also took a dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

“The BJP can’t win even Gram Panchayat elections without EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines). They are dependent on EVMs for victory. While we have allied with multiple regional parties in Maharashtra, BJP’s partnership is with the EVM,” Mr Raut alleged.

In a dig at Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who heads an NCP faction, Mr Raut said that winds of change are blowing and he should be careful.