"Left Behind Farmers": Opposition Targets Eknath Shinde's Ayodhya Trip

The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in Maharashtra on Sunday accused Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other leaders of the ruling dispensation of going on a visit to Ayodhya while forgetting their constitutional duty especially when farmers in the state were suffering from crop losses due to the inclement weather.

The MVA allies - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) - said Lord Ram will not forgive CM Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for leaving the people of Maharashtra in the lurch.

Mr Shinde on Sunday reached Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on a day-long visit to pay obeisance to Lord Ram at the Ram temple. This is his first visit to Ayodhya after being sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra in June last year.

Thousands of his supporters called ‘Shiv Sainiks' accompanied him. Deputy CM Fadnavis also joined him.

The Shiv Sena is planning to highlight Shinde's visit to Ayodhya across the country.

Hitting out at the Shinde government, NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said for the past few days, agriculture produce has been largely damaged in many parts of Maharashtra on the account of unseasonal rains and hailstorm.

Fruits like grapes, cashewnuts, oranges, bananas, mangoes have been damaged and this has severely "crippled the fortunes of farmers", he said.

Tapase said while the farmers of Maharashtra are devastated, the chief minister, deputy CM, other ministers, MLAs, and workers of their parties have gone to Ayodhya, "leaving behind the distressed farmers with no recourse." While Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde exemplifies Lord Rama, he has chosen to forget his duty to stand by those affected by the nature's fury and has gone to Ayodhya purely for political reasons, the NCP leader claimed.

If this trip was for personal spiritual reasons, Mr Shinde would have gone alone and the people of the state would have understood, but taking the cabinet, MLAs, MPs and activists with him means the Shinde-led Shiv Sena wants to make a political statement from Ayodhya, Tapase said.

Maharashtra Congress spokesman Atul Londhe said Lord Ram will never forgive the chief minister and the deputy chief minister for "making an event" of the Ayodhya tour when farmers in the state are in dire straits due to the unseasonal rains and hailstorm. ''Lord Ram will never forgive you for leaving people of the state in the lurch,'' he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also claimed the Maharashtra government has left the state farmers in the lurch and its leaders are on a "religious tourism". In the last 72 hours, hailstorm and unseasonal rains in several parts of the state have damaged crops. The government had said it will provide relief to farmers after the budget session, he said.

'This government is indulging in politics over Ayodhya. Lord Ram, who is against falsehood, will never bless them. I only hope God gives them good sense,' Raut said.

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