MUMBAI: In an attempt to end the deadlock in Maharashtra legislature over crop loan waiver, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, accompanied by a delegation of Shiv Sena members of his cabinet, met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi on Friday. However, the Shiv Sena ministers remained non-committal over the stand of their party even after they were assured by the Union Minister of floating a scheme to resolve the contentious issue.
“We met Jaitley and Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh and demanded that the Union government should devise a scheme to bring more and more farmers from Maharashtra under the ambit of institutional loans. The state government too would share its burden if such a scheme is floated. Both the ministers have agreed to our request and have assured us that a scheme would be floated soon,” Fadnavis told the media after the meeting in Delhi, which, according to sources, lasted only for about 20-25 minutes.
The response of Shiv Sena ministers after the meeting was unenthusiastic.
“We shall inform party president Uddhav Thackeray about the meeting and he would then decide the party’s stand in the legislature,” senior Shiv Sena leader and transport minister Diwakar Raote, who was part of the delegation, told the media.
Both the Houses of Maharashtra legislature have been stalled over the issue of crop loan waiver for more than a week now. Thackeray had earlier said that the Shiv Sena would not let the government table the state budget until their demand of crop loan waiver was met. The state budget is slated to be tabled on Saturday, but the party’s stand over it is not yet clear.
Minister of State for Finance Deepak Kesarkar, who would table the budget in the Upper House of the legislature, when asked about the instructions from his party, said that he would carry out his duty as a minister.
“Thackeray had told all of us that we should carry out all our duties as we are part of the government,” Kesarkar, who represents Shiv Sena from Sawantwadi assembly constituency, told the New Indian Express.