Uproar in House over devt works suspension by govt

Mumbai: An uproar was caused in the state Assembly on Tuesday over suspension of development works in the constituencies of opposition MLAs on the second day of the Maharashtra Legislature’s Winter Session. Opposition bench raised slogans in the House while demanding the lifting of ban on developmental projects. In July, the current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led government had suspended developmental works across the state initiated by its predecessors (Maha Vikas Aghadi government) in office. Raising the issue, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Ajit Pawar, said that developmental works approved in the state budget have been postponed by the government. He further claimed that several meetings were held with the chief minister and his deputy in this regard, but no solution was found. “State governments come and go, but sanctioned works of the government are never stopped. These developmental works are of Maharashtra, and not of Gujarat, Karnataka and Telangana,” he said.

In response, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the works were stopped when Uddhav Thackeray became the chief minister. “The works of my Assembly constituencies were stopped (when Thackeray was CM). BJP MLAs did not get a single penny. However, we are not vindictive people. Our government has lifted the ban on 70% of the works. The remaining 30% are under consideration since provision rules were not followed during approval.” However, opposition members were not satisfied with Fadnavis’s reply. They gathered at the well of the House and started sloganeering. Shiv Sena leader After a chamber meeting with Speaker Rahul Narwekar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured opposition leaders of a meeting for a positive resolution of the issue. It was only after this that the opposition members calmed down and the House resumed the session.