The Opposition will corner the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government over agrarian distress and the state losing investment projects in the winter session of the legislature beginning here on Monday, opposition leader Ajit Pawar said.
Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Pawar also informed the Opposition has unanimously decided to boycott the customary tea party to be hosted by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde later in the day.
Other issues like remarks by state Governor B S Koshyari on Shivaji Maharaj and the simmering border row with Karnataka are also likely to dominate the winter session.
“The Opposition will target the government over big-ticket investment projects preferring other states over Maharashtra and the agrarian distress,” Pawar, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said.
Pawar’s counterpart in the Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve (Shiv Sena UBT), Dilip Walse Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party and state Congress president Nana Patole were also present.
He said it was unanimously decided to boycott the tea party invitation extended by the chief minister.
“It’s been nearly six months that the (Shinde) government has come to power, but it has not been able to fulfil the expectations of the people,” Pawar added.
On Saturday, in a show of strength, the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had taken out a protest march in Mumbai, primarily to protest against the “insult” meted out to the icons.
Targeting the state government over the border row with Karnataka, Pawar on Sunday said CM Shinde was unable to present the case as aggressively as his Karnataka counterpart Basavraj Bommai did.
He said while the merger of 865 villages having a Marathi-speaking population in Bidar, Nipani and Belgavi in Karnataka is still pending, many villages from Maharashtra bordering other states have been making demands to integrate with neighbouring states.
Such a thing has never happened in the last 62 years, the former Deputy CM said.
He was referring to the demands made by some villages along the Gujarat and Karnataka borders seeking to merge with the neighbouring states claiming the lack of development in their parent state Maharashtra.
On the agrarian distress, Pawar said farmers have suffered losses due to unseasonal rains, but they are yet to receive crop insurance and compensation.
He alleged crop procurement centres are being set up by “looking at a person’s face”, alluding that preference is given to those who are close to the ruling party.
Pawar said the Opposition would also question the government over big-ticket projects preferring other states over Maharashtra, a development which deprived lakhs of the youth of jobs and industries allied to these projects.
The Opposition has been vociferous over projects like the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant, Tata-Airbus aircraft project, bulk drug park, and medical device park choosing other states over Maharashtra.
Pawar accused CM Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of not taking up the issue (regarding the projects) with the Centre properly.
He alleged students from a minority community, tribal, backward and other backward classes are yet to receive the scholarship amount.
Pawar said the Shinde-Fadnavis government is a “stay government”, a reference to the state’s decision to put on hold the go-ahead given to some projects by the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
Pawar also targeted Fadnavis over his statement that the Uddhav Thackeray-led government was toppled right under its nose.
“Fadnavis had been plotting against the MVA government the day it was formed,” he alleged.
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