Congress shedding crocodile tears over Maharashtra farmers' woes: Fadnavis

Fadnavis claimed that the Congress and the NCP did not do enough for them when in power

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday accused the opposition of shedding "crocodile tears" over issues related to farmers and claimed that the Congress and the NCP did not do enough for them when in power.

Fadnavis' comments came on the first day of the state Legislature's two-week-long winter session in Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, in response to the opposition parties' criticism that his government has failed to alleviate the woes of cultivators.

As the Assembly session began, Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil alleged that the BJP-Shiv Sena government in the state was a huge failure and that it faulted in the implementation of loan waiver scheme.

Responding to it, Fadnavis said, "The so called concerns of Congress and NCP are nothing but 'magarmach ke aansoo'. It is a false concern, in fact, the Congress and NCP government had largely disappointed farmers in the state."

He said the package for Vidarbha announced during the previous Congress-NCP government had hardly benefited the farmers. The Congress and the NCP did not help farmers when they were in power, he said.

Fadnavis said he would compare the performance of the earlier Congress-NCP rule with that of his government.

Vikhe Patil alleged that state government has made several mistakes in the farm loan waiver implementation.

"The figures have gone wrong, the company appointed for the processing of data has also made several mistakes," he said.

"The loan waiver announcement was made in June and till date there is no sufficient data to prove how many farmers have actually received benefits of the scheme," the Congress leader said.

Later, BJP minister Ram Shinde told reporters outside the Assembly that on the first day of the session, the House members always pay tributes to the departed leaders.

"The opposition leaders sidelined it and came up with farmers' issues. This is an unfair practice," he said.