Pune: The opposition has criticised Mahayuti govt over chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde’s recent visits to Delhi, claiming that their meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were aimed at seeking political directions rather than securing relief for drought-affected people in the state.After meeting Shah on Wednesday, Fadnavis said he had apprised the home minister of the drought situation and requested a relief package through National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). Before Fadnavis’s visit, Shinde was in Delhi on Tuesday, where he held a meeting with PM Modi. Shinde said the Centre had assured the state of all necessary assistance to mitigate the drought situation.The opposition, however, claimed that both the chief minister and deputy chief minister had failed to provide immediate relief to farmers in distress.“These meetings of Fadnavis and Shinde with Modi and Shah show that the state is being controlled from Delhi. The agenda of their meetings was not to discuss measures to tackle the drought situation but to seek political directions, which is quite unfortunate,” said state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal.State govt declared drought in 265 tehsils on Sept 26, following which the panchnama process was started in the affected villages.“Survival has become a challenge for the farming community, but state govt is busy with politics. Instead of providing relief to farmers, the govt is busy shielding those responsible for the paper leak,” said Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar.A Central govt committee will review the drought situation in the state, and based on its report, a drought relief package is likely to be announced. Opposition members said that despite the chief minister and deputy chief minister’s visits to Delhi, the process of providing relief had not been expedited.“Eknath Shinde said he had a half-hour discussion with the prime minister, but he has not specified when farmers would get the actual relief. Despite these meetings, the Centre’s team still took time to arrive in the state for the inspection. Shinde admitted that 85% of crops had been lost, but he has not announced any compensation. If the chief minister and deputy chief minister have failed to provide any relief to farmers, what is the use of their Delhi visits?” said Shiv Sena (UBT) senior leader Ambadas Danve.Fadnavis said state govt would provide relief without waiting for the Centre’s package and said farmers had never received drought relief so early in the past.“Since 2001, drought has never been declared in Oct. It was always declared by the end of Nov or in Dec. This is the first time it has been declared in Sept, and state govt has worked out a package that will be released at the earliest,” Fadnavis said.
