Welcome to the government's move for farmers: Pawar's praise sparks political speculation

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Chandra Pawar has openly hailed the government's decision to make significant changes in the farm loan waiver scheme in Maharashtra. He said that with the removal of strict conditions of the scheme, now lakhs of farmers will get its direct benefit. Pawar also publicly thanked chief minister Devendra Fadnavis for the decision. Sharad Pawar said that earlier many farmers were deprived of the scheme due to the assistance of Rs 50,000 for farmers who had availed the benefit of the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Shetkari Loan Waiver Scheme in 2019 and additional conditions for farmers who had repaid regular loans. Now with the removal of these conditions by the government, more farmers will get relief and this decision is in line with their sentiments. Meanwhile, speculation is rife that Sharad Pawar's party will join the NDA or merge with the Congress. However, the party's state president Shashikant Shinde dismissed all such discussions as rumours. According to sources, most of the party leaders are not in favour of joining the NDA and some have even expressed their opposition to it. Recently, Sharad Pawar held a meeting at the Vidhan Bhavan on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute and later met his MLAs at Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's office. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was founded on June 10, 1999. A Sangma and Tariq Anwar had split from the Congress. The positive attitude towards the Pawar government on the issue of farm loan waiver has sparked a new debate in Maharashtra politics.