Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar addressed a public rally in Beed on Sunday where he said that him along with eight other Nationalist Congress Party leaders who joined the coalition government earlier this year took that step to solve the problems of the people in the state. He also mentioned that there are no permanent enemies or friends in politics.
Ajit Pawar reportedly said, "We have joined Mahayuti (Ajit Pawar's alliance with BJP, Shinde-led Sena ) to solve the problems of the people. We took this decision for the development of the state. In politics, there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends. We want to tell everyone in Maharashtra that even though we are in the Mahayuti alliance, it is our duty to protect people of all castes and religions."
Further Pawar added, "We will always work for the benefit of the farmers. Farming does not happen without water in the fields. I have done a lot of work when I was the Water Resources in the state," he added.
Ajit Pawar claimed that has asked state agriculture minister Dhananjay Munde to visit Delhi and meet key central leaders to discuss the onion price rise issue. Pawar reportedly said, "When the onion issue came up, many people got calls. The opposition always gives wrong information. I asked Dhananjay to go to Delhi. Dhananjay went and requested maximum help. Home Minister Amit Shah immediately bought 2 lakh metric tonnes of onion at ₹ 24 per kg."
The Ministry of Finance announced in its notification dated 19 August that, until 31 December 2023, it was imposing a 40 per cent export duty on onions.
As a result of the Central government's decision to levy export duty at 40 per cent on the vegetable, onion growers in Maharashtra took to the streets Monday and protested there.
