BJP and allies cheated their way into power in Maharashtra: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday alleged that the BJP and its allies first “cheated their way” into power in Maharashtra and have since left the state in shambles, asking how much the collapse of the Maha Vikas Aghadi cost.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Maharashtra’s Chandrapur.

“The BJP and its allies first cheated their way into power and have since left the state in shambles. The statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea that the PM laid the foundation stone for seven years ago is illustrative of his governance style: seven years later, it has been silently abandoned by his government,” Ramesh said.

“What hope can the common person have from a man who has given “jumlas” even to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj?” he said in a post on X.

Ramesh said farmers in Maharashtra have had an incredibly challenging year and in November, the state government declared that 60 per cent of rural Maharashtra faced drought conditions last year.

“Between March and September, more than 16 lakh hectares of agricultural land was affected by unseasonal rains in the kharif season. Then, over 60% of districts suffered major damage to the rabi crop due to hailstorms and unseasonal rains in November and February,” he said.

Despite all of these hardships, farmers received no assistance from the government and haven’t received their insurance compensation either, he said.

“In 2014, the PM had promised farmers in Yavatmal District he would give MSP at 1.5x the cost of production, in accordance with the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations. Why has the PM forgotten this promise?” the Congress leader said.

In its 2024 Nyay Patra, the Congress has committed to a legal guarantee for MSP, as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission, a loan waiver for farmers, and a mandatory transfer of all insurance payments for crop loss within 30 days, he pointed out.

What is the BJP’s vision to support Maharashtra’s farmers, he asked.

“According to the Government’s own data from the NCRB, two youths in Maharashtra commit suicide every day because of unemployment – even as 2.5 lakh jobs are vacant across the state. To make matters worse, paper leaks have plagued almost every competitive exam conducted under CM Eknath Shinde’s government,” he said.