Ask BJP ministers to return from tour: Chavan tells PM

Mumbai: The issue of members of legislative houses of Maharashtra undertaking study tours to Australia and New Zealand under the Commonwealth Exchange Programme is turning controversial. While environment minister and Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam slammed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers for participating in the tour at a time when an agricultural crisis was unfolding, former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to call back the BJP state ministers from the tour.

A few members of the Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC), including its chairman and deputy chairman, along with two ministers, are on a 10-day tour of Australia and New Zealand. The ministers who are part of the tour include agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar and parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat. However, their participation in the tour has come under fire from both the alliance as well as the opposition.

Maharashtra is facing a tur procurement crisis and the agriculture ministry is concerned however Mr Fundkar is on tour. Similarly, Pune’s garbage issue is becoming increasingly serious but Mr Bapat, who is also Pune’s guardian minister, is also on tour. Mr Chavan requested PM Modi to intervene in the situation. “Please ask chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to immediately recall the ministers back to their duty,” he wrote in his letter. Meanwhile, Sena minister M.R. Kadam too slammed the ministers for going on tour when their departments were facing serious issues. “Ministers should understand their duties and should avoid going there. Balasaheb (Thackeray) had once cancelled a similar tour of ministers. Going abroad when farmers need you most shows insensitivity,” he said.