Maharashtra: Winter Session was a flop exercise, says Opposition

Nagpur, Dec 14 Opposition parties on Sunday criticised the Mahayuti government, alleging that the week-long Winter Session of the Maharashtra Legislature, which concluded on December 14, turned out to be a flop exercise as it failed to deliver any concrete relief to farmers and citizens of the Vidarbha region.

Addressing a joint press conference, Congress Legislative Party leader in the state Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, senior NCP (SP) legislator Jayant Patil, and Shiv Sena (UBT) legislative party leader Bhaskar Jadhav claimed that the state government's sole objective during the session was to pass supplementary demands amounting to Rs 75,286 crore and announce a slew of decisions with an eye on the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.

Shiv Sena (UBT) legislative party leader Bhaskar Jadhav alleged that the Winter Session was held primarily to facilitate expenditure from the government treasury ahead of elections. “A few announcements were made for Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai, but not a single announcement was made for Vidarbha. The session was a deception of the people of Vidarbha and was conducted with municipal elections in mind,” he alleged.

Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Sachin Ahir criticised the government, saying it failed to act despite repeated questions being raised on several alleged corruption cases during the session.

“The farmers of Vidarbha who cultivate paddy, soybean and cotton were looking forward to this session. The opposition demanded a bonus for paddy and soybean farmers, but the government did not take any action. There is a serious drug problem in the state, but the government has failed to take concrete steps to address it,” Wadettiwar said.

Congress Legislative Council group leader Satej Patil remarked that the session witnessed more slogans than substance. “There was a demand to increase the number of cotton procurement centres, but no decision was taken. There is no money in the treasury, yet slogans are plenty. This is the situation of the Mahayuti government. The government has made so many announcements that there will be a budgetary shortfall to implement them,” he alleged.

Veteran NCP (SP) legislator Jayant Patil countered Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ claim that Maharashtra is leading in attracting investments and signing a large number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs). He alleged that companies with whom MoUs have been signed are not actually investing in the state, and no tangible investments have materialised, leaving the unemployment problem unresolved.

He further said that the opposition raised serious concerns about the law and order situation in the state, but the government failed to provide concrete answers on the issue.

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