MVA government will last full term despite Centre’s attempts to destabilise it: Sharad Pawar

Addressing party workers in Rahatni on the second day of his visit to Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pawar said the Central government “would not succeed in its designs”. He said, “The MVA government will complete its full term no matter what the Central government does to destabilise it and harass its leaders…I assure you, this behaviour of the Central government will not last long.”

Stating that the MVA government under Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was doing a good job, Pawar lamented that the Central government was “not cooperating” with the state government. “Maharashtra has Rs 30,000 crore GST dues pending with the Central government but it (the latter) is refusing to part with it,” Pawar said.

Stressing that the Centre was constantly targeting MVA leaders, Pawar said, “Leaders like Anil Deshmukh, Anil Parab, Bhawana Gawli, Ashok Chavan have faced ED (Enforcement Directorate) probes. But nothing has emerged from it. Now, they are targeting Ajit Pawar.”

On rising fuel price, Pawar said, “The Central government is conveniently blaming the rising fuel prices in the country to the rise in international prices of crude oil. But even when the international price goes down, the fuel prices in the country keep rising.”

Recalling his days as the Union Agriculture Minister, Pawar said, “At one point of time, we had foodgrain stock that would last only four weeks. The government had decided to import foodgrain. However, I was against the move…Only after the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh insisted, I signed on the file…Later, I decided to change the whole scenario vis-a-vis foodgrain stock and it changed for good.”

Urging party workers and leaders to put on a united front to win the upcoming elections, Pawar said, “NCP changed the face of Pimpri-Chinchwad. However, NCP is not ruling Pimpri-Chinchwad (now) but a party, which is looting the industrial city, is in power. This should change in the coming elections…,” he said while attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).