Fadnavis demands immediate assistance to farmers; reminds Uddhav to fulfil the demand

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis demanded immediate assistance of ₹25,000 per hectare for the unseasonal rain-affected farmers in the State Legislative Assembly on Sunday. He asked the newly elected CM Uddhav Thackeray to fulfil the demand he had made the same demand while touring in affected areas. 

'Now its time to fulfil that demand!' 

Fadnavis announced Rs 5.3k cr relief for rain-affected farmers

In his brief stint as Maharashtra Chief Minister after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Devendra Fadnavis had sanctioned relief of Rs 5,380 crore from the state contingency fund for farmers who suffered crop loss due to unseasonal rains. Fadnavis had held a meeting with his former deputy Ajit Pawar a day earlier to discuss ways to provide additional support to distressed farmers. Cyclone Kyarr brought heavy unseasonal rains to the state, destroying crops over an area of 94.53 lakh hectares in 352 talukas of 34 districts.

When the state was under the President's Rule, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had announced a relief package on November 16. The compensation stood at Rs 8,000 per hectare for up to two hectares for Kharif crops and Rs 18,000 per hectare for up to two hectares for horticulture/perennial crops. On November 2, Fadnavis, as caretaker CM, had declared relief of Rs 10,000 crore. 

Nana Patole elected unopposed as Speaker 

Earlier on Monday, in a dramatic turn of events, Maha Vikas Aghadi Speaker nominee Nana Patole was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly on Sunday. This development occurred after BJP withdrew its nominee Kisan Kathore out of the race citing it did not want any controversy in the Speaker election. The Uddhav Thackeray-led government had nominated the Congress leader unanimously on Saturday ahead of the floor test.

READ | Maha CM Uddhav Thackeray slams BJP on Hindutva, says 'keeping our word is Sena's Hindutva'

BJP pulls out of Speaker race

Announcing that the BJP will be pulling out of the Speaker race, BJP state President Chandrakant Patil said that the Speaker will be elected unopposed. He added that Fadnavis had decided to withdraw its nominee keeping in mind the decorum of the post. Moreover, he said that the BJP did not wish to create any controversy in the Speaker election.

READ | Uddhav Thackeray expects 'Intolerance to injustice' from newly elected Speaker Nana Patole

"Today's election of the speaker will be unopposed. The leader of the opposition has withdrawn its leader's name on looking at the decorum of the post. BJP has withdrawn the name of its nominee from the speaker's post. Last night, leaders from the govt requested that there should be no controversy on this. We had nominated the name of Kisan Kathori who had secured maximum votes," he said.

READ | Nana Patole elected unopposed as Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly

WATCH | CM Uddhav in front of him, Aaditya Thackeray breaks convention to introduce himself