45 out of 48: Amit Shah sets Maharashtra target, eyes Sharad Pawar's bastion

PUNE: Setting a target of winning 45 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, BJP chief Amit Shah told party workers here on Saturday that Baramati, considered NCP chief Sharad Pawar's stronghold, should be one of them. This comes a day after Pawar dropped a hint at joining the poll fray from Madha in Solapur.

Shah challenged Pawar to compare his performance as Union agriculture minister with the steps initiated by BJP to redress the plight of farmers. "Sharad Pawar should submit details about foodgrain procured during his tenure and then compare it with the procurement done by the BJP-led government at the minimum support price," Shah said, addressing a gathering of the BJP's booth-level workers from Pune, Baramati and Shirur Lok Sabha constituencies. BJP had won the Pune seat in the 2014 elections by dislodging Congress. Baramati was retained by NCP, while Shirur by Shiv Sena.

Shah said the Congress-NCP government had waived off farmers' loans worth Rs 53,000 crore only once. "BJP has done much more," he said, claiming that 13 crore farmers would get an assured income support worth Rs 75,000 crore per year under the 'Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi' announced in the recent Union Budget.

Asserting that BJP was committed to build a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, Shah said, "Both Pawar and Ashok Chavan (state Congress chief) should spell out their stand on Ram temple construction before the elections."