Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Monday took a swipe at its one-time ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over the “paltry” financial assistance announced by Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to the farmers affected by unseasonal rains.
Mr Koshyari had on Saturday granted relief of '8,000 per hectare up to two hectares for agricultural Kharif crops and '18,000 per hectare up to two hectares for horticulture/perennial crops.
In an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamana, the Sena said the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, left the affected farmers in the state “disappointed” with the “meagre” relief.
“Farmers in Maharashtra were expecting the governor would announce a major relief package for them. But the Rs 8,000 per hectare aid for kharif crops and Rs 12,000 for horticulture plantation is very less,” the editorial said.
The Sena has demanded a compensation of '25,000 per hectare for the Kharif (summer) crops destroyed due to the double whammy of the unseasonal rains and delayed retreat of south-west monsoon in October.
Interestingly, the NCP and the Congress, too, had termed the assistance “meagre” too and demanded it be raised to at least '25,000 crore.
“State BJP president Chandrakant Patil admitted that the announced amount was very low, but does it have courage to condemn the same and stand behind farmers? There is a difference between what BJP leaders are saying and their actual action," the editorial read.
