Major fissures developed within the Opposition ranks on Thursday as the Sharad Pawar-led NCP refrained from joining the Congress in the protests staged by the latter both within and outside the Assembly over the farmers’ loan waiver issue.
In a departure from the events witnessed on the first day of the Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra legislature when both the Opposition parties had registered vociferous protests against the State Government’s failure to waive the agriculture loans taken by distressed farmers in the State, the NCP chose not to join the sit-in organised by the Congress at the entrance of the Vidhan Bhavan over the issue. Nor did the NCP join the walkout staged by the Congress from the State Assembly over the farm loan waiver issue.
As soon as the day’s proceedings began in the State Assembly, leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of the Congress and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said that they would not participate in a debate, unless Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified his Government's stand on the farm loan waiver issue.
Alluding to news reports that had quoted the Chief Minister as saying that the State Government would not waive the loans taken by the farmers, Vikhe-Patil and Chavan said that Fadnavis had told them that he was misquoted by the media saying that the State Government was in no position to waive the loans.
“Fadnavis told us that media has wrongly quoted him as saying that farm loan waiver was not possible. If that is so, why can’t the chief minister place the same on record on the floor of the HouseIJ” Vikhe Patil asked.
Demanding a clarification from the chief minister on the issue, the agitated Congress MlAs rushed to the well of the House and raised slogans against Fadnavis-led government. After brief protests, the Congress members staged a walkout from the House in protest.
The NCP did not join the Congress in the protests.