Raising questions on the appointment of the Leader of Opposition in the state legislature, Shiv Sena (UBT) President Uddhav Thackeray accused the Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of shielding his "corrupt" cabinet colleagues. In a statement on Thursday, he takes a dig at the Maha CM over the corruption issue and alleged inaction on his part, saying Fadnavis has "changed" over the years.
Talking to the media at the party office in Vidhan Bhavan premises in Nagpur, where the state legislature is having its winter session, he alleged that corruption of some minister or the other was coming out in the open daily.
"Videos of their leaders with bundles of notes are coming out. Even then, the chief minister is not taking cognisance of the issue.”
“I would say the chief minister should start a 'shielding portfolio' and take charge of it. I feel pity for the chief minister. What you were (in the past) and what you have become now," said the Opposition MLC, a former ally of the BJP, the party to which Fadnavis belongs.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Tuesday posted, on social media, videos purportedly showing an MLA of rival Shiv Sena on a video call with another person who is sitting amid bundles of cash.
While Danve claimed the cash belonged to MLAs of the ruling parties, Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat dismissed the videos as morphed and AI-generated. A day later, Peasants and Workers Party leader Chitralekha Patil made a similar cash-related claim about a Shiv Sena minister.
To a query, Thackeray questioned why there was a delay in appointing Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in the legislative assembly as well as the council. The former CM noted that months ago, the Shiv Sena (UBT) forwarded the name of party MLA Bhaskar Jadhav for the LoP post in the assembly, but no forward movement has been made on the matter.
If the BJP-led Mahayuti government can name two deputy chief ministers, then why is it not appointing LoPs in the assembly as well as the council? He asked.
Thackeray questioned what happened to the financial 'package' announced by the chief minister for farmers affected by excessive rains.
He maintained that Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan last month said his ministry has not received any proposal from Maharashtra for providing aid to calamity-affected farmers.
After this, the Mahayuti government suddenly sent a proposal for financial assistance to the Centre in the last week of November, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC stated.
"We want to ask what proposal the state government sent to the Centre, how much relief amount it has demanded and who will benefit from it. Details of the proposal should be tabled in the legislature. People should know whether the central government will help the state," he said.
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