Ajit Pawar attacks Centre over 'false poll' promises, says Narendra Modi's claim of giving Rs 15 lakh to each Indian an 'illusion'

Thane: Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for what he claimed were false promises made to the people. Pawar, a former deputy chief minister of the state, was speaking at a function on Thursday night in Dombivali. [caption id=“attachment_4256661” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Ajit Pawar. PTI[/caption] He said PM Modi’s promise of “depositing” Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of people was an illusion. Pawar also attacked Fadnavis and said the CM had, during civic poll campaigning, promised to allocate Rs 6,500 crore to the Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) for development works. Not even “Rs 6.50” has been given to the KDMC so far, he said sarcastically. Speaking at the function to honour a leader of ‘mathadi’ (headload) workers, Pawar said Narendra Patil being made chief of Annasaheb Patil Arthik Vikas Mahamandal by the state government was not a favour done by the BJP but the right of the mathadi workers. Patil, a former NCP leader, was inducted into the BJP in September this year and made chief of the Annasaheb Patil Arthik Vikas Mahamandal. Patil is the head of the powerful union of mathadis, which has a sizable presence in several agricultural produce committee markets across the state. Pawar also claimed the state of banks in Maharashtra was precarious and alleged that the government was not doing anything to mitigate their woes. He said poll reverses for the BJP in the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh were a sign of the ruling party’s impending defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.