Maharashtra floods: Devendra Fadnavis targets Sharad Pawar & CM Thackeray

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said he agreed with NCP chief Sharad Pawar that the state government must take a loan to help farmers hit by crop loss due to heavy rains.

He also took a swipe at Uddhav Thackeray's tour of rain-affected areas and sarcastically called it a "big deal".

Fadnavis while touring rain-hit regions of Pune and Solapur spoke to reporters, said the state's limit to obtain loans had not even been utilised "50 per cent".

"We (Maharashtra) have a loan limit of Rs 1.20 lakh but we have taken only Rs 50,000 crore so far," he said.

"Taking a loan to help farmers is not a sin nor would it be a new thing for the state," said Fadnavis who also claimed rains had disrupted power supply which in turn had cut off villages, leading to no government official managing to reach those affected.

Earlier Pawar had said, "The state has no option but to take loan to help the flood-affected people. The state is facing a historic economic crisis. I will meet the chief minister to discuss the issue."

Instead of making "mean" statements about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CM should spell out how he will help distressed farmers, Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis said the Thackeray government was passing the buck to the Centre though it had the power to provide help. "When I was chief minister last year and the state experienced floods, I announced a package of Rs 10,000 crore without waiting for the Centre''s funds," Fadnavis said.

Asked about NCP chief Sharad Pawar''s comments on state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari over his letter to the chief minister, Fadnavis said, "Is this time to attack the governor? Differences were always there even when the same party ruled the state and the Centre."

Sharad Pawar''s only work now is to defend the state government against which "there is lot of resentment", the leader of opposition said.