MVA ignored Marathwada, Vid in 2.5 years: Bawankule

Nagpur: BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday alleged that the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government ignored Vidarbha and Marathwada during its 2.5 years rule. This is evident because the winter session in Nagpur was not held during its tenure, he said.
“All neglected regions of the state are being well looked after by the Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis government,” he said.
Speaking to the media, Bawankule defended Fadnavis for holding eight departments. Reacting to leader of opposition Ajit Pawar’s statement on this, the BJP state president wanted to know why he is holding on to the post of LoP when there are many seniors in the party like Jayant Patil.
He further claimed that the NCP will not retain its Lok Sabha seat from Baramati. People there were very disappointed with the NCP's elected members, especially Ajit Pawar. He said this while reacting to Pawar’s statement of teaching him a lesson after he visited Baramati recently.
“The people of Baramati will decide their fate in 2024, which will prove who worked for them and who didn’t. Development of Baramati does not mean development of western Maharashtra. There is great displeasure about Ajit Pawar's behaviour. When the NCP came to power, Ajit dada had reportedly tasted the fruits of power. Still western Maharashtra was not developed,” claimed Bawankule.
Bawankule termed Pawar's politics as “money from power and power from money”. “He should look at his own party,” the state BJP president said. Bawankule held him responsible for not allocating Rs 436 crore required for OBCs reservations during MVA tenure.
Reacting to the opposition’s walkout during the passage of Lokayukta Bill, Bawankule said they are afraid of the Bill. Had they been non-corrupt they would have supported the Bill, he added. “As they are involved in several scams they feared this bill,” he said.
Citing an example, Bawankule said that several lands of green belts under PMRDA, were reportedly converted into yellow belts. “It is nothing but a scam,” he claimed. Bawankule clarified that ministers from Shinde camp are not corrupt. “The allegations levelled by the opposition are baseless,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Nitin Raut on Wednesday walked out of the assembly session after the ruling party did not allow him to speak. “I was not allowed to raise the Vidarbha issue in the session, which shows that the state government’s non-serious attitude towards the region,” Raut told reporters.