"Helped Him In Crisis," Recalls Sharad Pawar After PM Modi's Attack

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Sharad Pawar over farmers' plight, the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief said today that when he was the Union Minister (2004-2014), he had helped the then Gujarat Chief Minister - now the Prime Minister - a lot for the agricultural crisis in his state.

Sharad Pawar was the Union Agriculture Minister from 2004 to 2014.

He said that on one occasion, the then Gujarat chief minister once called him and said he wanted to visit Israel to study the unique farming techniques there.

"He used to come to me with the problems of the agriculture sector and even took me to Gujarat. Once he wanted to visit Israel so I took him there also. Whatever Narendra Modi says now I am not concerned," said Mr Pawar.

Years later, Narendra Modi became the first Indian PM since Independence to visit Israel in July 2017.

The NCP (SP) chief's retort came a day after PM Modi attacked Sharad Pawar - without taking his name - accusing him of doing nothing for the cause of farmers when he was the Union Agriculture Minister.

Even on earlier occasions during the ongoing Lok Sabha campaign, PM Modi has slammed Sharad Pawar for having abandoned the peasantry, and not doing anything for their welfare, while contending that the farmers benefited hugely during the last 10 years of the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)