Mathura, November 26: Uttar Pradesh minister Srikant Sharma Monday described 'opposition unity' as a demonetisation-hit group of corrupt people trying to throw spanners in the welfare schemes run by the Narendra Modi government. "It is virtually a cocktail of corruption, commission and kushashan (bad governance)," the UP power minister said and added that the coming together of opposition parties is not a threat to the BJP. “It is not a gathbandhan, it is a group of corrupt people hit by demonetization. They are not interested in the welfare of the poor,” Sharma said.

Opposition unity is aimed at creating hindrances in the welfare schemes run by the prime minister, he alleged. On farmers' agitation scheduled for November 30 in Delhi, he said it is politically motivated. Barring the Narendra Modi government, no dispensation did anything for the welfare of farmers apart from shedding crocodile tears, he claimed. Mamata Banerjee Meets Sonia, Rahul Gandhi; Pitches For Opposition Unity to Defeat BJP in 2019.

The NDA government is a “farmers' government”. It increased the minimum support price for bajra (millet) by 95 per cent, he claimed. Not only the MSP for paddy and wheat has been increased, but an arrangement for the purchase of pulses has also been made, the minister said. The government is soon going to switch over to e-mandis and has provided sufficient amount of Neem-coated urea to farmers. Attacking the Congress, he alleged: "The party is slaughtering cows in Kerala and opening cowsheds in Madhya Pradesh for votes."