Maha Vikas Aghadi government is neglecting Vidarbha: BJP's Sudhir Mungantiwar

MAGPUR: BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar on Saturday slammed the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government for not holding the winter session of the state legislature in Nagpur. Speaking to the media here as the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of the Sena, NCP and Congress completed one year, he also criticized it for not reconstituting the Vidarbha Statutory Development Board.

Mungantiwar, MLA from Chandrapur district, quipped that in place of "Fadnavis government" (one led by BJP's Devendra Fadnavis), a "Fasawnuk (fraud) government" has come to power. He said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his deputy Ajit Pawar did not visit Vidarbha even once. "The government is not even allowing the winter session of the Assembly to be held in Nagpur," he said.

The government had cited the coronavirus outbreak as the reason for not holding the winter session in Nagpur, the state's second capital, as is customary. The BJP leader said that Speaker Nana Patole, despite being from Vidarbha, gave his assent to hold the session in Mumbai.

He also expressed doubt about whether the session will take place even in Mumbai from December 7. No financial assistance was provided to flood-affected Gadchiroli district and eastern Vidarbha, Mungantiwar claimed.

He said that the Vidarbha Statutory Development Board was not constituted afresh after its term expired in April. "The VSDB is important as it secures funds for the region's development," he said.