‘NCP has not split at all, some took different decision’: Supriya Sule hits out at ‘highly confused’ Maharashtra govt

The MP said there were many attempts in the past by the BJP to split the NCP. “The BJP has succeeded in getting a few of the party to join their alliance…In a small way, they have succeeded,” Sule said.

“There is no clarity on who all from NCP MLAs have joined the state government as many still approach us with their worries. The nine MLAs who took oath have clearly joined the government and we have informed the Speaker for action against them,” she added.

On Sharad Pawar not being able to come to power in the state with a full majority ever, Sule said, “He was a four-time CM of the state. After the formation of the NCP, he has never contested Assembly elections. He was active in Delhi politics. The NCP has always contested 118 Assembly seats in the state so no question of getting a full majority. Once, the NCP was the single largest party, and at that time, a political decision was taken to give the CM post to the Congress.”

On Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar holding a rally in the Pawar family stronghold of Baramati, Sule, who has been elected to the Lok Sabha thrice from Baramati, said, “There is nothing wrong if anyone is holding a rally in Baramati. I have no idea who has planned it and I am not in Baramati.”

She said the party workers were not in a dilemma and that everyone was working for the party.

Hitting out at the “highly confused” state government, Sule said it was stuck in policy paralysis and that people in power had nothing to do with good governance but only wanted to hold on to power. “State agriculture minister meets the Union minister on the onion issue and another deputy chief minister tweets something else. There is no coordination and there is complete policy paralysis. No one in the state government knows what is going on. The 40 per cent duty on export of onions should go completely,” she added.

Sule also mentioned that in the last four months she had raised the issue of onion prices with the Union government. “We discussed with Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal that [there is] good production of onion in the country and less in the rest of the world so there is a great opportunity to make a profit out of it by exporting it. The government should have a clear policy but there was no policy and so the present situation has arisen. I raised it in Parliament as well,” Sule added.

She said she has urged the state government to address the water scarcity in Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. “There is a problem of drinking water and fodder for animals. They should take a break from the race to claim credit and work for people,” she said, adding, “I have demanded the state government declare a drought in the state due to severe rain deficiency. It has created a serious issue and the state government should give crop insurance to farmers.”