Instead of providing much needed financial support to the farmers going through tough times due to floods destroying their crop, NCP(SP) working president Supriya Sule on Monday said the Mahayuti led state government was prioritising and pushing for the Rs 80,000 crore Shaktipeeth road project, a six lane 802 km expressway from Goa to Nagpur. "I am all for an infrastructure development project, but the time is not right to spend such a huge amount when farmers are suffering," said Sule. The NCP(SP) leader expressed shock that the state government was yet to submit a report on damage due to floods, she said, "Union Home minister Amit Shah said he was yet to receive a report on damage due to floods. The report should be sent to the union government which will be approved soon." "I don't know what the state government is doing taking so much time to submit reports which would provide help to farmers. The union minister has publicly said no one has sent a report to him as of now. The state government should fulfill its promise of farm loan waiver," said Sule. Sule said the fiscal management of the state has collapsed and beneficiaries of various government schemes, including Ladki Bahin, are being made to wait. She added that food inflation was at a high and the state power utility plans to hike power tariffs, was adding to the problems of citizens. The state government makes claims of additional power generation but unfortunately the industrial area of Pirangut faces power outages of eight hours on regular basis, she said, "If the state has excess power then why is power outage in Pirangut where big industries are operating." Sule claimed that a lot of investments in industries are moving out of state. On the topic of an accused from Pune fleeing the country (gangster Nilesh Ghaywal), Sule said there were serious lapses in government machinery. "I am going to reach out to the Union Home ministry and External Affairs ministry to raise the issue. It seems a fake passport racket is operational. People also get all kinds of fake government documents," she said. Sule said all alliance partners of MVA are preparing for civic polls but don't know when exactly they will take place. "There will be a meeting of senior leaders of MVA to decide on strategy for civic polls," she added.
