Cong heat on Pawar and party

“Between the figures for sown areas presented by the two wings of the same Ministry,there was a difference of 10 lakh hectares. Members also expressed concerns about the Ministry’s ability to stabilise prices,” said a Congress member of the committee. He said that the committee had given a questionnaire on the discrepancies to Ministry officials and sought a reply in a week.

Of the JSS,a Congress leader involved in election preparations said,“They had fielded candidates against ours in the Lok Sabha election. We will not ally with them.” JSS leader Vinay Kore is a minister in Ashok Chavan government and the party had backed Pawar as prime ministerial candidate.

Pawarspeak

On sugar prices: “I have not received any letter from Sonia Gandhi on sugar prices. We are trying to ensure that sugar is available in ration shops for BPL and APL cardholders in states before festive season. Final decision this week.”

On L K Advani: “Advani was not speaking the truth when he said he was not aware of key decisions taken after the hijacking of IC-814. The versions of Jaswant Singh,Yashwant Sinha,George Fernandes and Brajesh Mishra show that the decision to release persons in exchange for hostages was taken at a meeting of cabinet committee on security in which Advani participated. I am shocked by Advani’s denial.”