Maharashtra oppn in disarray, but monsoon session to be stormy

Maharashtra oppn in disarray, but monsoon session to be stormy

Mumbai: Putting behind drubbing in the just held Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, opposition parties are gearing up to aggressively take on the BJP-led government and highlight its "failures" during the monsoon session of the state legislature starting here from Monday. 

This will be the last session of the state legislature before the assembly polls which are likely in October. The BJP -Shiv Sena government, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will complete its five-year term in October. 

Despite the opposition being in a disarray post the Lok Sabha polls, the three-week session is expected to be a stormy affair with the Congress-NCP combine seeking to put the Fadnavis government on the mat on corruption charges against Housing Minister Prakash Mehta and other key issues. 

The Congress-NCP combine fared poorly in Maharashtra in the just held Lok Sabha polls. The Congress won just one Lok Sabha seat in the state, while its ally the NCP emerged victorious in four constituencies. 

The Congress also suffered a setback when its senior legislator Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil first quit the post of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and later resigned as MLA. 

On the other hand, Fadnavis led the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance to a spectacular victory with the two parties bagging 41 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. 

Senior Congress leader Mohammed Arif Naseem Khan told PTI that the BJP-led government's "failure" to ensure effective drought management, poor implementation of farm loan waiver and the issue of quota in jobs and education for Muslims, Dhangars and Marathas will be highlighted aggressively. 

Additional budget will be presented on June 18 as only vote-on-account was tabled during the budget session in February in view of the Lok Sabha polls. 

The debate on Governor's address to the joint session of the legislature delivered in February during the budget session will take place in the monsoon session. 

Khan said the opposition is likely to demand a `white paper' on the budgets presented by the Fadnavis government in the last five years. 

"This government has been announcing big schemes and making budgetary allocations, but it has failed when it comes to their implementation. Only 60 per cent of the budgetary provisions have been utilised every year," he claimed. 

Another Congress leader said graft charges against BJP ministers, including "indictment" of Mehta by the Lokayukta in a slum redevelopment scheme, will also be highlighted. 

Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde of the NCP is in the dock after the Bombay High Court's Aurangabad bench asked the police to file a case against him in connection with alleged illegal purchase of government land in Beed district. 

Munde has denied any wrongdoing in the land deal and claimed the plea against him was filed in the high court out of "political vendetta". 

During the session, the government may hold election for the post of deputy chairman of the Legislative Council, which is lying vacant for nearly a year. 

Currently, there are 12 vacancies in the 288-member house - five from the Shiv Sena, four from the BJP, two from the NCP and one from t he Congress. 

Ashish Deshmukh, Anil Gote (BJP), Harshvardhan Jadhav (Shiv Sena) and Jaidutt Kshirsagar (NCP) have resigned from the assembly, while Hanumant Dolas (NCP) died recently. 

Other members Girish Bapat (BJP), Unmesh Patil (BJP), Hemant Patil (Shiv Sena) and Imitiaz Jaleel (AIMIM) have resigned after being elected to the Lok Sabha. 

Members Suresh Dhanorkar and Pratap Chiklikar (both Sena) quit before the Lok Sabha polls to contest elections on Congress and BJP tickets, respectively. Both have won. 

Harshvardhan Jadhav (Shiv Sena) had resigned from the assembly earlier and unsuccessfully contested from the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat as an independent. 

BJP leader Girish Bapat, who was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, has been elected to the Lok Sabha and the key portfolio is now being handled by Education Minister Vinod Tawde.

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