Sharad Pawar meets PM Modi over farmers' distress in Maharashtra
New Delhi: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament here and apprised him about farmers' distress in Maharashtra and sought his urgent intervention in the wake of the crop damage and rising agrarian crisis in the state.
The meeting at the prime minister's chamber in Parliament comes amid uncertainty over the government formation in the Maharashtra where talks are on between the NCP, the Congress and the Shiv Sena for an alliance.
In a three-page memorandum, Pawar said in Nashik district crops like soyabean, paddy, finger millet, corns, bajra and vegetables like tomato and onion were at the harvesting stage but incessant and unseasonable rains completely ruined them.
He said 44 farmers from Nashik have committed suicide in the face of the crisis in the last 10 months. In Nagpur, cotton crops over 35,000 hectares have been damaged due to unseasonal rains, Pawar said.
"Due to President's rule in the state, your urgent intervention is highly necessitated. I shall be grateful if you could take immediate steps to initiate massive relief measures to ameliorate distressed farmers," the memorandum said.
The duo is meeting two days after the prime minister praised the NCP lawmakers in Parliament over their decision against entering the Well during the proceedings.
NCP and Congress leaders will meet in the evening to discuss how to partner with the Shiv Sena, a long-term BJP ally that recently ended its alliance with the ruling party over a power tussle in Maharashtra.
When asked about the government formation in Maharashtra, the NCP chief refused to comment.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
