'Maharashtra handled farmers' stir maturely': Pawar jabs Centre over Delhi clash | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
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'Maharashtra handled farmers' stir maturely': Pawar jabs Centre over Delhi clash

By, Mumbai
Jan 26, 2021 11:10 PM IST

“From last 60 days, these farmers were sitting patiently, asking for the farm laws to be withdrawn but the government displayed no serious intentions,” said Pawar.

The ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra, comprising parties like Congress, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), have condemned the violence by the farmers in Delhi, at the same time also put its onus on the Central government for its mishandling of the farmers protests at the Delhi borders.

Farmers participate in tractor rally near Nangloi in New Delhi on Tuesday.(PTI Photo)
Farmers participate in tractor rally near Nangloi in New Delhi on Tuesday.(PTI Photo)

Former Union agriculture minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar blamed the Centre for the violence in the national capital. “No one will support such violence but then the question arises who forced them to indulge in such acts? It was squarely the responsibility of the Central government to talk to the farmers and solve this impasse,” he said.

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Also read: Farmers' body Samyukt Kisan Morcha calls off tractor rally with immediate effect

“From the last 60 days, these farmers from Punjab and Haryana were sitting patiently at the Delhi borders asking for the farm laws to be withdrawn but the government displayed no serious intentions to solve this matter,” said Pawar. He warned the government to deal with the matter maturely or have Punjab slip into a state of anarchy.

Pawar lauded Maharashtra government for handling the farmers' protest. “There was a farmers' protest in Mumbai as well but the state handled it very sensitively and in a mature manner. The Central government should have done the same with the tractors rally,” said Pawar.

He said using force will not achieve anything. “Even now, the government needs to sit down with the farmers and initiate a dialogue to solve this issue. If the government feels it can achieve its goals by using violence then it’s mistaken,” he added.

State Congress chief and Maharashtra revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat also pinned the violence on the Modi government. “The farmers have been camping from the last 60 days but the Central government was just wasting time instead of indulging in serious talks. Besides, the government was branding the protesters as ‘Khalistanis’. Such actions forced the protesters to the wall,” accused Thorat.

The protesting farmers on Tuesday clashed with the police at several places in Delhi and entered the iconic Red Fort and ITO area in the heart of the national capital. Hundreds of them deviated from pre-decided routes, prompting security personnel to resort to lathi-charge and fire tear gas.

The Shiv Sena was quick to taunt the BJP-led Central government. “This is one of the blackest days in the history of India. Now, the question is why did the farmers lose their patience? Had this incident occurred anywhere else, they (read BJP), would have demanded resignations from Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee or even from Uddhav Thackeray, now whose resignation will they demand? questioned Sena MP Sanjay Raut. “The Central government needs to introspect,” he added, saying that there was a farmers' rally in Mumbai as well which was handled efficiently by the MVA government.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Naresh is a Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times, Mumbai, since 2005. He covers the real estate sector, in addition to doing political reportage.

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