Supriya Sule seeks Rs 1 lakh per hectare for drought-hit farmers in Maharashtra

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule on Thursday demanded financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh per hectare for drought-hit farmers in Maharashtra. She also said the state government should immediately release the aid held up under welfare schemes.

Sule said party president Sharad Pawar had written to the government to provide relief to drought-hit farmers. "We have no intention of playing hollow politics. This is a time for humanity, which is why we have taken a position of cooperation," she said.

Sule, the Baramati MP, said farmers were facing great hardship because of the drought and rising inflation. She said banks should not harass farmers and employment guarantee works should be started.

Citing the Namo Kisan Yojana and the state government's farmer assistance schemes, Sule said farmers were entitled to receive aid every year from both the Centre and the state. She alleged that part of the state's share had still not been paid.

The state government has declared drought in 305 of Maharashtra's 358 talukas. Last week, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that an initial aid of Rs 5,000 would be credited directly to farmers' bank accounts before Diwali.

Asked about alleged irregularities in the Legislative Council elections from the graduates' and teachers' constituencies, and about an alleged meeting at the Pune District Central Cooperative Bank, Sule said she would speak only after going through the available information. Sule, who is working president of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), said: "I am not interested in trading accusations against anyone. My point is only that there is a system and the country must run according to that system."

Sule was also asked about the allegations Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange made against the BJP and the Shiv Sena. The question concerned an audio clip and an alleged claim that Jarange was paid Rs 500 crore. Sule said she had not seen the video herself and had not understood the context behind it. "When an allegation is made, it is right to respond to it. But I have not seen that video myself, and I do not know in what context it was made. We must speak responsibly," she said.

Sule also reacted to the alleged targeting of photographs taken by Rehan, son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. She said he should be recognised as an independent photographer and not seen merely as a political leader's son. "Why do you look at him only as Priyanka Gandhi's son? Why not as a talented Indian photographer?" she asked.

Condemning the matter, she said: "If you want to fight in politics, fight us. But it is wrong to target our children because of their parents." Asked about speculation of a "change of power" in the government in the coming months, Sule said everyone in a democracy has the right to express an opinion.