Ajit Pawar says crops over one lakh acres damaged due to unseasonal rains

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar said crops over more than one lakh acres have been damaged due to the recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms in the state.

The state government should provide aid to the affected farmers, he demanded while speaking to reporters here. Onion, papaya, grapes and other crops have been destroyed, Ajit Pawar said.

Enforcement Directorate has given him a clean chit in the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam, Pawar said it was not true and the probe was still going on.

Asked about Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting NCP president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, the former deputy chief minister said he was not aware of what transpired during the meeting.

The two leaders had not met for a long time. The rally of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (of which the NCP and Thackeray-led Sena are constituents) is also scheduled in Mumbai on May 1, he said.