BJP-Shiv Sena MPs to meet PM

Nagpur, Aug 12 (UNI) A ten-member delegation, comprising MPs of the BJP and Shiv Sena, will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel during the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament over the problems of farmers in the region.

Speaking to reporters here yesterday, the Shiv Sena MP from Ramtek Lok Sabha constituency Prakash Jadhav said the meetings with Dr Singh, Mr Pawar and Mr Patel are likely to take place during the forthcoming week.

The delegation would apprise them about the problems faced by farmers whose land was acquired for the Multi-Modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project here and the proposed 1,000 mega watt (MW) thermal power plant of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Mouda in the district. The farmers whose fertile land had been acquired for the projects were paid a paltry sum as compensation, he alleged.

The delegation would demand that the interest of farmers should be protected while the projects are executed, he added.

Candidates belonging to the Saffron alliance were elected from 10 of the 11 Lok Sabha constituencies in Vidarbha in the 2004 election.

The sole exception was Nagpur, where Congress nominee Vilas Muttemwar won, and went on to become the Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources in the Union Cabinet.

UNI