Union Minister lays base of agri college in Arunachal
Itanagar: NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Tuesday termed the recent defection of four party legislators to Congress in Arunachal Pradesh, as a ‘major setback’ for the party in the state.
“It is a sad experience for us…. People elected them but they (the MLAs) instead of sticking with the party and working for the people, shifted their loyalty which, is ‘very unfortunate’,” the Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries said at a party meeting here after laying the foundation stone of the first ever college of agriculture at Pasighat in East Siang district.
Exhorting the party workers to adopt a different approach with regard to the functioning of the party, the Union Minister asked them to put more focus on women and youth force.
“If equal opportunity is given to women and youths to participate in election, I am confident that NCP will further be strengthened in the state,” he said with conviction and advised the party’s state leadership to select ‘good’ candidates duly supported by the workers for the Parliamentary and Assembly elections due next year.
“NCP, despite being a small party is an effective part of the UPA-II government at the Centre. This is a party formed not for the sake of contesting elections but to work for the welfare of the people, especially the weaker section of the society,” he said.
Pawar also called upon workers to shun any communal approach work with a true secular spirit.
Referring to the immense potential of the North East states in agriculture and allied sectors, the union minister advocated for a holistic approach in infrastructure development which if improved, would make the region as a major producer of agricultural crops.
“With improvement in surface communication, North East will become a major tourist destinations of the country,” he added. (PTI)