MUMBAI: At a party meeting presided over by NCP president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday, NCP cabinet members took the view that there should be further relaxation of Covid norms for traders and shops and establishments.
“We felt that since intensity of Covid has reduced drastically, existing restrictions should be reduced. NCP leaders will soon meet chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and press for the proposal,” a senior NCP cabinet member said.
The NCP ministers alleged at the meeting that Central agencies were “harassing NCP leaders and their relatives for political reasons.” “The NCP has taken serious note of the gross abuse of Central agencies, and as a political party, we will not take it lightly, we will fight it with full power. We will take on the BJP,” the cabinet member said. Pawar will interact with the media on Wednesday and comment on the series of income-tax raids on NCP leaders and their relatives.
According to reports, income-tax sleuths recently searched the premises of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar’s sisters and his son and a section of their family. Ajit Pawar had expressed strong displeasure over the raids at his sisters’ houses, saying he was hurt. “We are seeing such kind of abuse of power for the first time,” he had claimed.
Sharad Pawar reviewed the performance of all cabinet members and thanked the people and traders for participating in the Maharashtra bandh organised on Monday to protest against the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. On the outcome of zilla parishad elections, the meeting saw discussion around how NCP’s strength had grown.
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