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Perform or Perish was the stern but subtle message from Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar to ministers from his party in Maharashtra.
Pawar asked his party’s 20 ministers in the Congress-led coalition government not to neglect carrying out relief works in the drought-affected districts and keep the affected persons into confidence ahead of Parliamentary and Assembly elections slated for 2014.
Pawar today held meeting with the party ministers for more than two and half hours at the official residence of his nephew and state deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar.
Pawar, who heads the empowered group of ministers on drought management, said: "Maharashtra had experienced drought in 2003. The Congress-NCP government had taken necessary steps to tackle the crisis. However, being the ruling party, NCP got set back in the 2004 parliamentary elections. The need of the hour is to visit drought-affected districts and focus on the effective implementation of drought relief works to avoid any political backlash," he said.
A senior NCP minister, who did not want to be identified, told Business Standard "Our party president reviewed the drought conditions especially in Beed, Jalna, Ahmadnagar, Sangli, Pune and Buldhana districts and inquired about the present status of drought management works undertaken by the state government and launched by the respective district administration. He was quite categorical that the drought relief works should not be neglected but all efforts be made for its effective implementation with a sole objective of providing relief to the affected persons."
He informed that his ministry has already taken a decision to provide grant of Rs 30,000 per hectare for the damage of horticulture crops in drought affected states.
Another minister said Pawar reiterated that NCP ministers and the party in general should convert the present crisis into an opportunity. He informed that NCP with 8 MPs and 62 legislators in Maharashtra, has worked out a comprehensive plan to increase its tally to 15 of the total 48 MPs and at least 100 of the total 248 legislators in the state during 2014 elections. "Today's meeting is also for stepping up election preparedness by NCP," the minister added.
