Expected Advani to be NDA's presidential pick: Sharad Pawar
Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar said that he expected the BJP-led NDA to field "someone like LK Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi" for the presidential election. The NDA must have had some other criteria because of which they did not pick Advani or Joshi who is a scholar, has a PhD degree and was a university professor, he added.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar said that he expected the BJP-led NDA to field "someone like L K Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi" for the July 17 presidential election.Speaking in Pune, Pawar said Meira Kumar was the "best pick" by the opposition. Asked about NDA's candidate Ram Nath Kovind, Pawar said it was an "internal matter" of the ruling coalition and he can't comment on it but Pawar added that he was expecting someone like Lal Krishna Advani to be their candidate as he was the deputy prime minister and has immense experience of governance. The NCP chief said that the NDA must have had some other criteria because of which they did not field LK Advani or Murli Manohar Joshi who is a scholar, has a PhD degree and was a university professor as their presidential candidates. "Murli Manohar Joshi was a union government minister for quite a long time. He has immense parliamentary experience and a doctorate to his credit," Sharad Pawar added. NCP Chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday had called in for a press meet to share his party's views about the steps taken by the Maharashtra government to waive off loans of 40 lakh farmers that amounts to around Rs 34,000 crore. "DEMONETISATION HARDLY BENEFITTED ANYONE"Also at the conference, Sharad Pawar hit out at the BJP government over demonetisation and said that he is sure that the step that BJP government took on November 8, 2016 hardly benefited anyone. Pawar said that an according to a recent international report about demonetisation, the move hadn't benefited anyone at all. Pawar demanded an explanation from the government about the interest charges over the demonetised money that has been deposited in cooperative banks in the last 10 months. NCP Chief said that a fortnight ago, he along with Maharashtra's former agriculture minister Dilip Walse-Patil and a few others met with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and had requested him to exchange the demonetised currency that is lying deposited in 155 District Central Co-Operative Banks. Around Rs 2,000 crore is still lying in these banks and it won't be exchanged by The Reserve Bank of India unless, a notification is issued by the Union Government under the Specified Bank Note Liability Act 2017.FARM LOAN WAIVERSharad Pawar appreciated the approach of Devendra Fadnavis and his government towards debt ridden farmers but said this won't put an end to every problem. Pawar said that the government should work on giving Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers and also implement the recommendations by Swaminathan Committee which enhances the profitability in agriculture, "by ensuring a minimum of 50 per cent profits over the cost of production."Talking about the situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir, the former defence minister said strict measures were needed to improve the internal security and curb the infiltrations from across the border. Pawar also said that the youth in Kashmir should be provided with employment opportunities and be regularly counselled so that they don't indulge in activities like stone pelting.ALSO READ:Farm loan waiver inadequate, will push for inclusion of all