Shiv Sena chief miffed at BJP's call to elect sarpanch directly

Mumbai: The BJP-led state government’s decision to conduct direct elections for the post of sarpanch in gram panchayats, has not got down well with the Shiv Sena. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray, on Wednesday, criticised the decision and asked why the chief minister too could not be elected directly from the public, in the same manner. The Sena ministers were also miffed with the decision because they were not informed about it before the cabinet meeting. The proposal came at the last minute on Monday’s cabinet meeting and was approved without its consent.

While speaking with journalists, Uddhav said that no decision should be taken in hurry. “We had supported the direct election of the municipal council president. But we need to think and introspect on the earlier decisions before taking a new decision. Will you elect the chief minister directly from the public tomorrow? If the sarpanch is elected directly then differences of opinion are inevitable in the body. The political parties will have to face the brunt. The government should have given the decision proper thought,” he said.

The state decided to amend the Maharashtra Gram Panchayat Act of 1958 on Monday, to pave the way for the direct election of the sarpanch from among the people, instead of elected members selecting him.

On the loan waiver issue, Uddhav said that he wanted the list of all 40 lakh farmers whose land records the state has cleared. “I want to see the list of 40 lakh farmers who will get benefit of the loan waiver. Our party leaders will raise the issue in the Assembly,” he said. He has instructed Sena workers to go to every village and prepare a list of farmers who would receive the waiver.

Uddhav expressed surprised over inclusion of 694 farmers from Mumbai in the list of beneficiaries for the waiver. He is going to tour the state from July 9 to check if farmers have received the waiver. He would speak to the farmers about their issues and help them find a solution.