Mumbai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday questioned former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s contribution to the cooperative sector. “Merely marketing yourself as a leader is not enough, you also have to show work on the ground,” Shah said, taking a dig at the veteran leader.
Addressing a cooperative conclave at Malegaon in Maharashtra, Shah accused the NCP (SP) president of failing to do anything for the cooperative sector during his 10-year tenure as the agriculture minister in the UPA government at the Centre.
“I would like to ask Pawar saheb what he has done for the cooperative sector which was under him when he was Union agriculture minister for 10 years in Delhi? What has he done for the farmers? What did he do to address the income tax issues related to sugar cooperative mills?” Shah asked.
Shah and Pawar have been at loggerheads lately with the senior BJP leader accusing the NCP founder of starting the “politics of betrayal and treachery” in the state. The veteran leader hit back saying none of India’s previous home ministers were ‘tadipaar’ like Shah, referring to his externment from Gujarat after the alleged fake encounter of gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh.
Shah highlighted the initiatives undertaken by the Narendra Modi government to boost the cooperative sector. He asserted that BJP-led governments aim to make the sector as prominent as Kashi Varanasi in India’s spiritual history.
The minister said the Modi government established a separate cooperation ministry in 2021 that led to significant improvements in the sector. The ministry drafted an ethanol policy for sugar mills and resolved their income tax issues, he added.
Shah emphasised that a robust cooperative sector signifies true self-reliance or Atmanirbhar Bharat. With 1.18 lakh members, the government has addressed several longstanding issues within the cooperation department. Tax reductions amounting to Rs 46,000 crore for sugar mills have been implemented, he said.
Earlier, Shah offered prayers at Trimbakeshwar temple in Nashik district and performed puja at the shrine, one of the 12 jyotirlingas in the country.
