Headlines
Maharashtra opposition signals stormy budget session
Mumbai, March 8
Signalling a stormy budget
session of the Maharashtra legislature, the state opposition on Sunday
boycotted the customary session-eve tea party hosted by Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis here.
The budget session starts here on Monday with an address by Governor C.V. Rao to a joint session of the state legislature.
The
Congress and Nationalist Congress Party launched a scathing attack on
the five-month-old Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance government,
targeting it on various issues.
With a belligerent opposition
and a highly vocal alliance partner (Shiv Sena), the session may prove
rough for the BJP, preparing to table its first budget amidst concern of
mounting debts now hovering around Rs.300,000 crore.
Congress
Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil in assembly and NCP's
Dhananjay Munde in the council have raised the issue of growing attacks
on rationalists with reference to the February 16 gunning and subsequent
death of senior CPI leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur.
They
expressed dissatisfaction with the government on the growing number of
farmers' suicides around the state, law and order situation with little
headway in the Pansare killing probe, the scrapping of five percent
reservations for Muslim community, the banning of cow-bullock slaughter
in the state, and other issues.
"We shall raise the issue of the
government's failure to provide relief to the farming community reeling
under a severe agrarian crisis," Vikhe-Patil told mediapersons.
The opposition has demanded a full-fledged home minister and agriculture to tackle these issues.
Adding
to the government's cup of woes is the threat by the alliance partner
Shiv Sena is planning to revive the anti-Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant
agitation next week.
However, a confident Fadnavis dismissed the opposition charges contending "it does not have any issues" later this evening.
Known
for his incisive analysis and criticism of various budgets presented by
the erstwhile Congress-NCP governments in the past, this time Fadnavis
could face the opposition heat on his government's first budget.
State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar will table the government's maiden budget on March 18.