NCP supremo and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday took a dig at Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, saying his act of having lunch with farmers under a tree would not help solve drought-related problems.
“The problems (like drought) won’t be resolved by sitting under a tree and eating thecha, said Mr Pawar, who is on a tour of the Satara district. Thecha is a type of green chilli-garlic chutney. “We should ensure that we speed up work in the drought-affected areas,” the Union agriculture minister added.
Mr Chavan had eaten lunch with the labourers and engaged in tasks like digging wells during his visit to his home district of Satara on Sunday to review the drought relief work.
Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana called the Congress leader’s act “a farce and a poor imitation of Rahul Gandhi’s famous meals with the poor”. Mr Pawar said he had requested state governor K. Sankaranarayanan to visit the drought-affected areas of the state.
The NCP, a part of the Congress-led ruling coalition in the state, is miffed with Mr Chavan since July last year, when he had said giving the key home portfolio to the NCP was a mistake.
“I think it was a mistake. We should have re-looked at it. I don’t know of any other coalition government where the portfolios of home, finance and planning are not with the
chief minister,” Mr Chavan had said.