No change in powers of Minorities commission — State

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena and BJP members in the State Legislative Assembly staged a walkout over the issue of pending dues of cotton farmers, demanding that the Government should pay interest on the dues.

During a starred question of R M Wani and others on the non payment of dues of cotton farmers by the Jalna marketing federation, BJP member Eknath Khadse lambasted the Government for making farmers wait for months for the cotton sold to the Government. When Khadse asked whether the Government was prepared to pay some interest to the farmers, whose dues had not been cleared for months, the Minister for Co-operation, Ganpatrao Deshmukh snapped, "How much interest have you paid (while you were in the Government) for the past four and a half years?" The minister’s reply annoyed Opposition members, who persisted on a specific reply from him on whether the Government would pay any interest. However, when he remained unperturbed, they staged a walkout in protest.