Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said he along with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis were scheduled to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the evening but the meeting got postponed. Pawar was speaking with journalists on the Vidhan Bhavan premises in Nagpur, where the winter session of the state legislature is underway.
The deputy CM said they have received a message from the Union home minister that he won’t be able to meet them on Friday evening on account of some important work. Pawar said Shah has asked them to visit him on Monday or Tuesday. “We have sought his time on Monday,” he said.
Pawar said CM Shinde and the deputy CMs discussed five key issues, including onion and ethanol, in the cabinet meeting on Thursday. “We were supposed to meet the Union home minister in this context,” he said. Farmers in Maharashtra are upset after the Centre banned onion exports till March 31, 2024, to increase domestic availability and keep prices in check. It has also banned the use of ‘sugarcane juice and sugar syrup’ for ethanol production in the 2023-24 supply year to maintain sugar availability for domestic use and to keep prices under check.
The deputy CM said 24-25 other important issues were also discussed in the cabinet meeting.