Maharashtra slid to 6th place in standard of living under BJP: Sharad Pawar

NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday, 7 November, hit out at the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, saying it has failed to safeguard the interests of farmers, protect women and provide jobs, and urged people not to allow them to continue in power.

He also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of working in the interest of a particular state.

Pawar was addressing a campaign rally in Nagpur for NCP (SP)'s Nagpur East candidate Duneshwar Pethe. Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on 20 November.

"Nagpur has a deep relationship with the Congress and its ideology, with leaders from Vidarbha, including Vasantrao Naik and Sudhakarrao Naik, serving as the chief minister of Maharashtra and empowering the state," he said.

But those who are in power today have failed to solve the problems faced by farmers and the number suicides by farmers in Vidarbha is very big, he noted. Farmers had to take the path of suicide because the government did not solve their issues, the former union agriculture minister said.

A few days back, a report on the standard of living of people came out, Pawar continued.

"There was a time when Maharashtra was at number one position in the country in terms of standard of living. However, it slid down to the sixth position after the BJP came to power," Pawar said.

On the law and order situation in Maharashtra, he said around 630 females, including girls, have gone missing from Nagpur and nearby areas in the last six months.

"The state government has the responsibility of protecting women and it has failed to carry out this responsibility," he alleged.

Pawar further said, "Those leaders in power who cannot protect the interest of the farmers, cannot provide protection to women and cannot give jobs to the youth should not be given power again. People have to take a decision to snatch away the power from these people.

Political leaders were expected to carry out the industrial development of Vidarbha, he said. When the Congress and allies were in power, they brought industries in Butibori and other areas of Nagpur, noted Pawar.

"But today, we can see that no industries are coming to Vidarbha and even if they come, they are shifted out of the state," he said, and cited the example of the Vedanta–Foxconn semiconductor plant that was shifted to Gujarat from Maharashtra.

Foxconn was supposed to set up its plant in Maharashtra and had the capacity to generate thousands of jobs. But it was shifted to Gujarat. The Centre gave the suggestion to the Foxconn management to shift to Gujarat, Pawar claimed.

Similarly, Airbus and Boeing companies were supposed to set up their manufacturing units in Nagpur, but they were also shifted to Gujarat, he charged.

"Today, the prime minister of the country intervenes in such matters. I have a complaint against him that a prime minister is the head of a country and if the PM starts taking a stand in the interest of a particular state, then you and me can question him whether he has the right to hold the post or not," Pawar said.

"We need to change the picture and provide employment to people, improve farming and protect women folk — and this cannot be done by those who are in power so we need to snatch away the power from their hands. You and I need to do this work and the upcoming assembly polls are important to change this scenario," he said.

The Congress, NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT), CPI(M), Samajwadi Party (SP) and other Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies have come together to provide an alternative to the people, he said.

"We want to assure the people of Maharashtra and promise that we will not rest till we change the face of the state through development," Pawar added.

It will be the responsibility of the MVA to ensure that the five guarantees announced by the alliance are fulfilled, he said.