A belligerent ruling Shiv Sena on Wednesday mounted pressure on the BJP-led saffron alliance Government over its clamour for waiver of farm loans, as it joined the Opposition in forcing noisy adjournment in both the Houses of the State legislature, and demanded that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seek waiver of farmers’ loans in the State.
On a day when NCP chief Sharad Pawar met Modi in New Delhi and sought the Centre’s intervention in checking the unabated farmers’ suicides in the State, the Sena legislators joined the Opposition Congress and NCP in disrupting the proceedings in both the Houses.
Soon after the proceedings began for the day, the Sena and Opposition members rushed to the well of the State Assembly, displayed placards and raised slogans demanding farm loan waiver. A similar ruckus was witnessed in the Upper House over the farm loan waiver issue. As a result, both the Houses came to be adjourned for the day, without transacting any business.
Coming down heavily on the State Government, leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Radhakrisha Vikhe-Patil said in the lower House: “We have been demanding farm loan waiver for the past one year. But, the Government has been dilly-dallying over the issue. The impression we get that this government does not want to waive the loans of farmers”.
In his criticism of the Fadnavis Government, NCP’s former Minister and senior leader Sunil Tatkare said, “This Government is anti-farmer. Otherwise, how do you justify the inordinate delay in making an announcement about farm loan waiver”.
later in the day, a delegation of the senior Sena Ministers met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at the latter’s official bungalow “Varsha” to press its demand for immediate waiver of the loans of the distressed farmers in the State.
Significantly, the Sena Ministers made it clear to the Chief Minister that their party legislators would not allow both the Houses to function till such time the State Government did not make any announcement about waiver of farm loans. They also urged Fadnavis to meet the Prime Minister and seek waiver of farm loans along the lines of loan waiver promise made by Modi to the UP farmers during the recently-ended Assembly poll campaign.
later in the evening, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray met his party's legislators at his Bandra residence “Matoshri” and discussed his party's stand on the farm loan waiver issue. At the meeting, the Sena legislators reportedly told the party president that they would seek postponement of the presentation of the State budget for the year 2017-18 till such time the state government did not make an announcement about the farm loan waiver.