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Pawar labels NDA anti-farmer, corrupt

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar said on Thursday that the Centre was 'mortgaging' the country to multinationals.

Addressing a rally of farmers at Rangbhumi Maidan in Purnea, Bihar, he charged the Centre with having forced farmers to commit suicide by allowing the import of wheat, sugar and fruits.

Alleging that the country's security was not safe in the hands of the National Democratic Alliance, Pawar said tehelka.com's expose had uncovered the deep involvement of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in corruption with tapes showing bribes being received at the defence minister's house.

He called upon people to wage a relentless fight to unseat the "anti-people and anti-farmer" Vajpayee regime.

He said the BJP and its allies had coined slogans of swadeshi [self-reliance] before coming to power, "but it is sad that all such slogans do not find a place in the government's action".

Pawar said that despite surplus food grains in the country, the Centre last year imported sugar and wheat from Pakistan and Australia. He questioned the rationale for this decision.

Launching a frontal attack on the Rabri Devi government in Bihar for allegedly unleashing anarchy and chaos, he urged the people to fight for its ouster.

Former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra and NCP general secretary Tariq Anwar were present at the rally.

PTI

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