Gadkari demands Mhetre's removal from DF ministry

Nagpur, Mar 10 (UNI) Maharashatra BJP president Nitin Gadkari today demanded the ouster of Minister of State for Home Siddharam Mhetre from the Democratic Front (DF) Government led by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Talking to newsmen here, Mr Gadkari alleged that Mr Mhetre had connections with the underworld and the presence of such minister in the ministry would amount to breach of the people's confidence in the government. The issue would be raised during the budget session of the state legislature, he added.

He said the other issues to be raised in the session included suicides by farmers, separate budget for agriculture sector and clearing the backlog of Vidarbha.

After taking stock of the destruction of houses, loss of lives and crops due to the unseasonal rainfall in Vidarbha and elsewhere, Mr Gadkari said the estimated loss would be around Rs 200 crore in the Vidarbha region.

He demanded financial assistance to the families of the victims, who were killed due to lightning, and also demanded Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 as compensation to the farmers whose animals and crops were destroyed due to unseasonal rain which lashed the state from March two to March nine.

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