Maharashtra assembly session: Opposition to target govt on governor's remarks on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, border row

NAGPUR: A day before the Maharashtra assembly session all set to commence in Vidarbha after two years, the opposition parties have trained their guns on the BJP-Shiv Sena (Balasaheb) government.
While demanding to extend the winter session here for three weeks to discuss issues related to backward regions of Vidarbha and Marathwada, its leaders on Saturday also decided to boycott the customary tea party hosted by chief minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence in Ramgiri in Nagpur on Sunday evening.

After an all-party meeting here to finalise the strategy to corner the government, the opposition made it clear that it would target the CM and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis government on various issues. It included the simmering border controversy with Karnataka, insult of icons like Shivaji Maharaj by the governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, agrarian distress, shifting of big-ticket projects to neighbouring states and Vidarbha backlog, as reported by TOI on Saturday.
While addressing the media at Ravi Bhavan, the leader of the opposition, Ajit Pawar said the Shinde-Fadnavis government had miserably failed to fulfil expectations of the people of Maharashtra on all counts after it took over the reins six months ago and therefore, all opposition parties had unanimously decided to decline the CM’s invitation for the tea.
“The insult to Maharashtra icons is still continuing from the high profile persons like the governor. Even their ministers and legislators are making objectionable statements against such icons. No one is even tendering any apology for their irresponsible remarks, which is totally unacceptable,” he said while terming the BJP-Sena as a “stalling government” for stopping projects sanctioned by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Flanked by Leader of opposition in council Ambadas Danve, MPCC president Nana Patole, senior NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil, former ministers Eknath Khadse and Sunil Kedar, Shiv Sena (UBT’s) Sunil Prabhu, Peasants Workers Party’s (PWP) Jayant Patil and Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe, Pawar targeted Shinde for not being aggressive over the border dispute like his Karnataka counterpart Basavaraj Bommai.
“Never in Maharashtra’s 62 years of history, such a large number of villages in border areas have expressed the wish to shift to neighbouring states, as they failed to get requisite facilities. When our government was in rule, 865 villages like Belgaum and Nipani on the Karnataka border had elected a Marathi person as MLA and mayor. Our CM needs to aggressively reply to Bommai’s chants over the dispute.”
Replying to a query on Vidarbha, the Baramati MLA said the backlog of the region needed to be removed on an urgent basis.
“We will take all issues related to backward regions of Vidarbha like Mihan, Gosikhurd on priority in the session. Even farmers from the region, who were hit by incessant rains, were suffering and they were not even getting their crop insurance amount. Their cotton, soybean and rice crops have washed away due to rains. We never saw such discrimination from the government while treating the farmers.”
Flaying the government over losing out projects like Vedanta-Foxconn, Tata-Airbus, medical device park and others to the neighbouring states, Pawar said Maharashtra lost out crores of investments and lakh of employment opportunities, including in Nagpur. “The CM and deputy CM should approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard. They said they had met, and the PM assured them that in future they will allot projects in Maharashtra. We will welcome the new projects. We have supported the government on all discussions rather than creating a ruckus and we will continue the same approach in the winter session as well."
Denying the allegations that he had ever reduced District Planning Committee (DPC) funds to Vidarbha, Pawar stressed on completion of the Mumbai-Goa highway which was pending for a long.
"I had provided more funds for Vidarbha, particularly Nagour according to its population. This government however stalled all our projects," he said.
Sena (UBT) for Bharat Ratna for Savarkar: Danve
On former Congress president Rahul Gandhi insulting Vinayak Sawarkar during his Bharat Jodo Yatra last month in Akola, opposition leader Danve said Shiv Sena (UBT) would stick to its stand on demanding Bharat Ratna for the noted freedom fighter. Pawar then clarified that though their ideologies were unmatched, the three parties were together in MVA for the larger purpose of Maharashtra’s development. He also declared that former CM Uddhav Thackeray would be in the city during the session and all three MVA constituents would be conducting a meeting probably on Monday to discuss their strategy for the winter session.