The opposition Congress and NCP as well as BJP ally Shiv Sena have attacked the Fadnavis govt’s move to shift the monsoon session to Nagpur.
Mumbai: Power cuts resulted in the adjournment of the House for the entire day Friday, the third day of the monsoon session of the Maharashtra assembly in Nagpur.
The BJP-led Maharashtra government had decided to shift the monsoon session of the state legislature to Nagpur this year to focus on issues in Vidarbha instead of having it in Mumbai as usual, a move that has been lambasted by the opposition and the BJP’s warring ally Shiv Sena. The last time the monsoon session was held in Nagpur was in 1971.
Opposition members are attacking the government for inadequate planning with the legislature’s infrastructure breaking down due to heavy rain in the city, which also happens to be chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ home turf.
“This is the first time in the entire history of the state legislature that the session has been adjourned due to lack of electricity,” Dhananjay Munde, leader of the opposition in the state legislative council, told reporters.
“This shows the state’s complete lack of planning. It has come to this only because of the state government’s childish insistence on having the session at Nagpur this time,” he said.
“The state may have failed in implementing its ambitious Jal Yukta Shivar scheme in Maharashtra, but by keeping the monsoon session in Nagpur, it has shown that the city is definitely ‘Jal Yukta Nagpur,” the NCP legislator added.
Proceedings in the state assembly began at 10 am even as there was no power supply. Opposition legislators started holding up mobile torches, shouting protests against the BJP-led state government. Thereafter, legislators sat on the steps of the building, raising slogans against the government on various issues. The electricity room was completely waterlogged and there was knee-deep water outside the residential complex of legislators and ministers.
The Sena too came down heavily on the government, lashing out at the BJP-led Nagpur Municipal Corporation. In Mumbai, the Sena, which is at the helm of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), always faces flak from all parties, including the BJP, for waterlogging.
“It is good that the government decided to have the monsoon session of the legislature in Nagpur this time. The entire state can now see what the real situation of the city is,” said Sena’s Anil Parab, a member of the state legislative council.
“When nature hits us, we can’t do much about it. The only thing in our hands is to take preparatory measures to prevent inconvenience to people and the Shiv Sena constantly tries to do that in Mumbai. Here, what preventive measures did the government take?” Parab asked.
State energy minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, however, defended the state claiming that the rain had not impacted electricity in Vidhan Bhavan, but the government voluntarily switched off power supply after some seeped into the switching room.