Political parties vie for credit of loan waiver pie

Mumbai: No sooner the state government announced loan waiver for farmers than political parties started to outdo each other to claim credit for the loan waiver decision.

Opposition parties like the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party claimed that their Sangharsha Yatra yield result of the loan waiver, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party passed it off  as the party’s commitment towards farmers’ welfare.

The Shiv Sena went a step ahead and installed a banner claiming credit for the loan waiver in front of the BJP’s office at Nariman Point. Congress state president Ashok Chavan and NCP leader Ajit Pawar called it ‘decision due to Sangharsha Yatra’. BJP state president Raosaheb Danave called it completion of commitment made by the BJP to farmers in their election manifesto.

After discussing demands with the farmer leaders, the state government announced ‘criteria based’ farmer loan waiver on Sunday. This issue has been a talking point in state politics since last four months. Several MLAs from the opposition parties had created a ruckus during finance minister Sudhir Mungantivar’s budget speech on March 2017.

The Congress, NCP and other opposition parties had started the Sangharsha Yatra while independent MLA Bachchu Kadu held a yatra from Nagpur to Vadnagar.