PM will take a decision on Pawar's letter: Congress

New Delhi, April 12: Amid signs of unease over Sharad Pawar's move, Congress today said it was upto the Prime Minister to take a decision on Agriculture Minister's letter to him alleging that the government's policies were hurting farmers who were being asked to subsidise industry.

"We do not know the details of the letter. The Prime Minister will go through it and take an appropriate decision", party spokesman Rashid Alvi told reporters when asked about Pawar's communication to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Pawar, who is supremo of the NCP-a constituent of the Congress-led UPA, has in the letter said he was upset about curbs on milk, cotton and sugar exports. In the letter, Pawar strongly criticised the Food Ministry headed by KV Thomas and the Textile Ministry under Anand Sharma's charge for policies he called "ambivalent" and against farmers.

Both Thomas and Sharma belong to Congress. A senior Congress leader, who declined to be identified, said that the party does not consider Pawar's letter as an innocuous move and feels that the NCP chief was "playing some game" by seeking to corner the government of which his party is a part.

A political realignment could be on the minds of the NCP chief, he said. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and DMK are the two other UPA constituents which have raised problems for the government in the recent past on some issues.

After Pawar's letter, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today used Twitter to attack the Centre on what he called its "anti-farmer policies". Modi tweeted, "The UPA ignores our repeated pleas against anti-farmer policies. Wonder if they'll respond to their own Agriculture Minister."

PTI