Opposition in a disarray - CM Eknath Shinde

 

 

 

 

Exuding confidence over people’s mandate favouring Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the the Opposition seems to be in utter disarray going by the current state of affairs in I.N.D.I. Alliance. “The massive mandate to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three crucial States shows that people have stamped their approval for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the same time, the rejection of Congress is indication of the people losing their trust in Rahul Gandhi,” Shinde said while interacting with mediapersons at ‘Ramgiri’ on the eve of Winter Session of State Legislature. Normally the winter session historically remained a stick wicket for ruling party of combination. This time however reverse seems to be true, as Opposition seems to lack the necessary firepower to take on the three-party coalition in State. Shinde further took a dig at Uddhav Thackeray accusing him of stalling development works in the State. The Mahayuti Government, on the other hand, is making all out efforts to help the farmers in distress, he said. Regarding bringing a resolution in Legislature on issue of reservations to Maratha, Shinde struck a somewhat repeated note about State Government’s commitment to the promise and also allayed fears of OBCs. But he did not comment on a definite timeline.

 

Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis looked in combative mood as he flayed the Opposition for boycotting the customary CM’s tea party on the eve of winter session. Perhaps next time, the Opposition might be invited for paan-supari, he quipped. Tearing through the joint letter of Opposition, Fadnavis pointed out that the erstwhile rulers seem to have forgotten that GR about contractual recruitment was issued during time of Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure and same is already scrapped by Chief Minister Shinde. He expressed surprise that traditionally the winter session is customarily meant to address issues of Vidarbha and Marathwada but the Opposition did not mention even one pressing issue about the regions.

 

Showcasing the economic momentum, the Deputy CM gave out figures of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) which is expected to reach Rs 35 lakh crore by end of financial year. “During 2013-14 the GSDP was just Rs 16 lakh crore which means that the growth is now 2.5 times and this indicates State is on right track,” he said. About the NCRB data the Opposition need to analyse it in ratio of population and that way Maharashtra is in much better position as compared to other States. As to criticism about short duration of winter session, Fadnavis said people who shied away from coming to Vidarbha has not right to talk about the duration. To a question, Shinde said ongoing probe will expose the forces fomenting troubles in Maharashtra. Everything will be clear as to who is trying to divide Marathas and OBC. When probed about cabinet colleague Chhagan Bhujbal’s remarks, he downplayed the same and said, former knows the position.