A meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar expedited the talks between the Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena on government formation in Maharashtra.

Though Pawar said he did not discuss politics with Modi, the meeting triggered speculations as it was ahead of the series of meeting scheduled between the NCP and Congress leaders on Wednesday.

“Due to President’s rule in the State, your urgent intervention is highly necessitated. I shall be grateful if you could take immediate steps to initiate massive relief measures to ameliorate distressed farmers,” the memorandum submitted by Pawar to Modi said.

“Met Modi in Parliament today to discuss the issues of farmers in Maharashtra. This year, the seasonal has created havoc engulfing talukas in Maharashtra, causing heavy damage of crops over 54.22 lakh hectares of areas. To take stock of this unprecedented situation and address the concerns of distressed farmers, I had visited Nashik and Vidarbha in the first half of November,” Pawar tweeted after the meeting.

Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh, Mallikarjun Kharge, Prithviraj Chavan, KC Venugopal and Balasaheb Thorat met NCP leaders Supriya Sule, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil and Nawab Malik, which was followed by a meeting at Pawar’s residence apparently to take call on the alliance with Shiv Sena — an ideological opponent so far. Pawar is apparently reaching out to a section of the Congress leaders who have problems in the alliance.

Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut also said the picture will be clear soon. “We are inching towards the government formation. The picture will become clear in the next two days and a popular government led by the Shiv Sena will be in place by December,” he said.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW