Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena alliance

farmers

Sushilkumar Shinde

Prithviraj Chavan

Some members of the core commitee at a meeting

Shiv Sena

BJP

Photo by Deepak Turbhekar

The three parties promise full crop loan waiver; previous govt provided relief up to Rs 1.5L per farmer. Waiver will cost the state Rs 1.5 lakh cr.Thewill waive off all crop loans if the fledgling coalition forms the state’s next government.The promise – which will cost the state exchequer Rs 1.5 lakh crore – headlines the common minimum programme (CMP) that the three parties have been working overtime to thrash out.The CMP – which will indicate the three parties, at least one of which is ideologically polls apart from the other two, are on the same page as far as their priorities are concerned – will lead to the much-anticipated next step of staking claim to form the government.Under the previous government only crop loans up to Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer were waived, but the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena CMP promises to lift this ceiling, clearing’ 7/12 documents of all institutional debts linked to their crops.The three parties have formed a core committee to chalk out the CMP. It comprises Congress leadersand Manikrao Thakre; Nawab Malik, Jayant Patil and Dhananjay Munde of the NCP; and the Sena’s Subhash Desai and Eknath Shinde. While the members of the core committee have been meeting separately for the last couple of days, the entire panel met for the first time on Thursday at a five-star hotel in BKC. While the members of the core committee have been meeting separately for the last couple of days, the entire panel met for the first time on Thursday at a five-star hotel in BKC.The CMP also promises to focus on employment generation by bringing new industries to the state. While this is clearly a dig at the BJP-led Union government’s poor record on the front – now highlighted in multiple surveys – the CMP does not say anything beyond the promise of bringing new industries on how it will be achieved in a suppressed economy.The CMP lays stress on resolving issues pertaining to the minorities by promising to extend them cheap education and business loans and covering them under a new social security scheme. It will be interesting how the coalition – if it assumes power – will fulfill this promise, given the’s historical stance against “minority appeasement,” a position it shared with its friend-turned-foeSpecial measures to uplift Dalits is another promise made in the CMP. In the backdrop of how the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi ate into Congress and NCP’s traditional vote banks in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it’s not a surprise that the welfare of socially backward communities finds a mention in the CMP.While the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi turned in a dismal performance in the just-concluded assembly polls, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has been vocal about his aim to bring the SC-ST-OBCs back into his party’s fold.The CMP will now be sent to the heads of the three parties for their comments, an NCP source said.