Kamal Ghorui
Mumbai: CM Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the state govt will present a detailed report on the Rs 30-lakh crore MoUs signed at World Economic Forum in Davos last month as well as the status of past deals. Earlier in the day, the opposition demanded a white paper on such past agreements.After the opposition once again boycotted the customary tea party on the eve of the budget session, Fadnavis told reporters at the state guest house, Sahyadri, that 13 bills will be introduced during the one-month session. He said two bills are pending from the previous session and all of them will be passed. “We shall give sufficient time for discussions,” he said. He said the death of deputy CM Ajit Pawar meant it had fallen upon him to present the budget. The opposition, which addressed the media separately, also cited the plane crash to question govt. “Govt has given only two lines of explanation that no one should raise questions about the accident. Why not? Is it a conspiracy or an accident? This is being discussed all over the country,” said Congress MLA Vijay Wadettiwar. The CM pointed to NCP (SP)’s absence at the opposition’s press conference, a six-page letter from the opposition being signed by a former MLA of the Sharad Pawar group and numerous grammatical errors in the letter that highlighted 18 issues. Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav later said NCP (SP) netas arrived late for the meet owing to some communication gap. “But we are all together as MVA,” he asserted. While Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray pointed to the vacant posts of the leader of opposition in both Houses and asked why the Mahayuti govt was “afraid” of the post when it has the brute majority, Fadnavis said the decisions are to be taken by the assembly speaker and the legislative council chairman. Congress MLC Satej Patil demanded the resignation of FDA minister Narhari Zirwal from NCP over a bribery case involving a staffer attached to his office in Mantrayala. The CM said his name had not cropped up in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) investigation. Acknowledging that the incident affects govt’s image, Fadnavis said, “We have zero tolerance towards corruption and that is why you see so many cases of action being taken. I have given clear instructions to ACB that if any such act of corruption is found in his office, then it must take action.” Thackeray also took a dig at Mahayuti, saying there is a growing rivalry among its ministers, likely referring to Fadnavis and deputy Eknath Shinde, on who govt’s “infra man” is. He also slammed govt for giving just Rs 5 lakh compensation to the family of the Mulund Metro concrete parapet crash victim. Alleging that the new India-US trade deal “will break the backs of farmers”, Wadettiwar pointed to the ongoing farmer suicide crisis in Maharashtra. Shinde urged the opposition to attend the budget session and not sit on the steps of Vidhan Bhavan and oppose govt. “Govt will address all issues raised by the opposition in the House,” he said.
