Sena stalls cotton price hike plan

MUMBAI, JAN 12: A fresh skirmish between Shiv Sena and BJP is on cards, this time over hiking the prices of cotton under the Monopoly Cot...

MUMBAI, JAN 12: A fresh skirmish between Shiv Sena and BJP is on cards, this time over hiking the prices of cotton under the Monopoly Cotton Procurement Scheme, with Sena linking its clearance to the piquant issue of free power for state’s farmers. And, once again in the eye of the storm is Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde who, as Energy Minister, had opposed Thackeray’s free power proposal as being economically unviable. Interestingly, today Munde pressed for a hike in the cotton procurement price at cabinet meeting.

That the Sena has decided to get back at BJP was evident from the manner in which senior Shiv Sena leader and Transport Minister Diwakar Raote virtually stalled Munde’s proposal to hike cotton prices at the cabinet meeting, on the ground that unless the demand for providing free power to farmers is conceded, his (Munde’s) proposal should be kept in abeyance.

A shocked and surprised Munde took strong objection to the observations of Raote, saying, the proposal to hike the cotton pricesfrom Rs 2100 to Rs 2500 per quintal was official one, where as the Transport Minister was making oral submissions.

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Ignoring Munde’s protest, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi intervened to say that both the issues will be considered in the next cabinet meeting.

The proposal for the hike in prices has its genesis in the alliance partners’ bid for one-upmanship in wooing the farmers. After the Sena had gone to town with its free power plan, BJP felt that it should also draw a strategy to woo the farmers and decided to move a proposal to hike cotton prices under the monopoly cotton prcourement scheme. However, even before Munde could make a demand, Thackeray took a lead by asking Chief Minister Manohar Joshi to hike cotton prices at a largely attended party workers rally at Akola on January 3.

Since the direction had come from Thackeray, Munde was expecting that it will have a smooth passage, but the move was objected from an unexpected quarter. As Munde moved the proposal, Transport Minister Raote objected toit, saying, since both, the issue of hiking prices and providing free power are for the welfare of the farmers, they should be considered simultaneously.

Munde’s protests fell on deaf ears as the Chief Minister ruled: “the cabinet agreed on the suggestion of Raote and accordingly, it will be taken for consideration in the next cabinet meeting.”

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According to a senior BJP Minister, the cabinet should have accepted Munde’s proposal since it was officially brought before the cabinet, where as the issue of providing free power to the farmers is pending before the highlevel inter-alliance coordination committee comprising Bal Thackeray, Pramod Mahajan, Rural Development Minister Anna Dange and state BJP President Suryabhan Wahadane.

It was on October 1, 1998 that Bal Thackeray unilaterally declared at party’s annual Dassera rally that power will be supplied free of cost to the farmers. However, Thackeray’s order was never implemented in letter and spirit on the ground that it was not financiallyviable.

Then, Munde had taken the view that if at all free power is supplied to the farmers, it will put a burden of at least Rs 1000 crore on the MSEB. Munde wants the State Government to sanction Rs 1000 crore for the purpose to the MSEB. The row splilled over and when Munde and Joshi went public with their vitriol t the extent that the chgief minister asked his deputy to keep his mouth shut.Subsequently, when there was no solution in sight, a highlevel meeting of the coordination committee was convened, where in it was decided to work out a formula for providing free power. However, the fact remains that Munde has refused to implement the directive of Thackeray, the main architect of the alliance government.