Hailstorms, rains damage over 100,000 acres of Crops in Maha: Ajit Pawar

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said crops over more than one lakh acres have been damaged due to the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms in the state.

The state government should provide aid to the affected farmers, he demanded while speaking to reporters here. "Onion, papaya, grapes and other crops have been destroyed," the Nationalist Congress Party leader said.

He would be meeting, in his capacity as Leader of Opposition, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the meeting of a committee set up to make certain appointments on Wednesday, Pawar said.

"I will also apprise them of the losses faced by farmers," he added.

To a question about reports that the Enforcement Directorate has given him a clean chit in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, Pawar said it was not true and the probe was still going on.

Asked about Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting NCP president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, the former deputy chief minister said he was not aware of what transpired during the meeting.

"The two leaders had not met for a long time. The rally of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (of which the NCP and Thackeray-led Sena are constituents) is also scheduled in Mumbai on May 1," he said. To a question about Congress leaders criticising the NCP, Pawar said the MVA allies should resolve their differences among themselves and not speak to the media.

He will speak on this issue at a rally in Nagpur on April 16, he said.