Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has launched a sharp attack on the state government over its handling of the recent heavy rains and subsequent floods in Maharashtra. Raut accused the government of neglecting flood-affected farmers and demanded urgent relief measures, including a revision of compensation norms.
Raut criticized Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi instead of holding a cabinet meeting in flood-hit regions. “The government should have convened a cabinet meeting where the flood situation exists. Instead, the Chief Minister went to Delhi. The Prime Minister asked for a report, but whether it was sent or not, we don’t know. Now the cabinet will discuss it again. This is not how you face natural calamities,” Raut said.
Raut further added, stating that the current situation amounts to drought. “Whether this is a wet drought or a dry drought, we don’t know. But when standing crops are destroyed along with land, and farmers cannot cultivate anything for three to four years, that is drought. Giving just Rs 5,000–Rs10,000 to those who have lost their farms and homes is a mockery,”.
Calling for immediate aid, Raut demanded Rs 50,000 per hectare for farmers whose lands were washed away. He accused the Chief Minister of lacking the intent to provide such relief and urged the government to halt loan recoveries by co-operative banks. “If the government has no funds in co-operative banks, then notices should first be sent to those cabinet ministers who earlier carried out scams worth thousands of crores in these banks, before targeting farmers,” he said.
Raut also backed Uddhav Thackeray’s call for a special session of the legislature to discuss the crisis. “A one or two-day special session should be held to address this and issue directives,” he said.
On the recent tensions in Ahilyanagar, Raut alleged that ruling party affiliates were attempting to divert attention from the government’s failure in handling the flood situation. “When the focus should be on Maharashtra’s flood crisis, such incidents are being engineered to create unrest. Subsidiary companies of BJP are behind these disturbances,” he claimed.
