Corruption charges, farmer suicides to rock Maharashtra session

Mumbai: Opposition Congress and NCP on Sunday boycotted the customary tea party hosted by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and demanded that Ministers facing allegations of corruption be sacked and probe be launched against them.

Addressing a press conference ahead of monsoon session of Maharashtra Legislature that begins here tomorrow, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and his counterpart in Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde said the opposition will not let the proceedings to be smooth.

Corruption charges against Ministers, farmers' suicides, demand for loan waiver would dominate the three-week monsoon session, the leaders said.

"Fadnavis gave Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde, under cloud over Rs 206 crore procurement scam for anganwadis, and Vinod Tawde, facing scam of Rs 191 crore for procurement of fire extinguishers in schools, a clean chit even before an inquiry. We will not allow both Houses to function until the Ministers are sacked," Vikhe-Patil and Munde said.

Hitting out at the government, Vikhe-Patil claimed farmers suicides have risen by 40 per cent.

"Since this government has come to power, 1,576 farmers have committed suicide. Paddy, onion, soybean, milk producers are facing crisis. There is no FRP for sugarcane and the government has turned a blind eye to their problems," he said.

Munde said the government had not heeded to the opposition's demand for complete loan waiver to farmers.

"Instead, they were speaking about rescheduling of crop loan. But so far, no farmer has benefited and the deadline of June 30 has also expired," he said.

Vikhe-Patil said when a senior Minister like PWD Minister

Chandrakant Patil speaks in negative about prevailing law and order, functioning of police department, it shows all is not well in the ruling dispensation.

"Instead of addressing the concerns in farming sector and taking immediate steps to pull farmers out of distress, Chief Minister is on a industrial tourism spree. He should have been working on planning how to tackle the threat of drought which is looming over the state and kharif crop resowing operations," he said.

"The Fadnavis government has turned its back on Maratha, Muslim and Dhangar reservation," he alleged.

Both Vikhe-Patil and Munde said the opposition will also take the government to task on the recent hooch tragedy in Mumbai that claimed over 100 lives as well as the delay in implementation of housing for mill workers.

"The policy was announced by our government and only lottery needs to be taken for disbursement of the tenements for mill workers," the Congress leader said.

He said leaders of PWP, MIM, MNS, Samajwadi party, CPI(M) and Lok Bharati attended the opposition parties meeting and decided to boycott Chief Minister's invitation for tea party.