Pawar: Too many rebels due to delay in alliance

On the possibility of multi-cornered contests in many constituencies because of the presence of the Republican Left Democratic Front (RLDF) and Prakash Ambedkar’s Bharatiya Republican Party-Bahujan Mahasangh in the fray,Pawar said that it would not cause a significant problem. He said that while the Third Front wouldn’t be able to make much of a difference,Ambedkar’s party was confined to just two districts.

Referring to the drought situation in the state,Pawar said,“The situation has improved after the last rains… the tension we had two months ago does not exist anymore. After the decrease in the area under rice cultivation by 62 lakh hectares we need to grow rice,wherever water is available.” Importing rice was not necessary,he added.

He said that he had instructed agriculture officers that whatever was lost during the kharif season had to be recovered in the rabi season,“with a major thrust on growing wheat,rice,pulses and oilseeds.”

At a meeting of agriculture officials on Thursday,Pawar also stressed the need for advancing the sowing of rabi crops to complete it by the end of November.