Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Friday began a tour of drought-affected areas in Maharashtra, meeting farmers and villagers to assess crop losses and water shortages and assuring them that he would raise their concerns with the state government.

The former Union agriculture minister visited Purandar tehsil in Pune district, where he interacted with villagers and assessed the situation on the ground. Pawar said he would take up the issues faced by farmers with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and seek concrete measures to address the crisis.