Mumbai: Two days after chief minister Devendra Fadnavis promised an inquiry into an SRA project signed by housing minister Prakash Mehta, the Congress and the NCP on Wednesday, demanded the resignation of the minister.
Mr Mehta’s woes increased further after a press release, in which he blamed his Cabinet colleagues and opponents in the party for targeting him through the allegations, went viral. However, he has denied that his office sent any such release. Party sources said that Mr Mehta might have to resign from his post if the controversy intensifies further.
On Monday, the chief minister had ordered an inquiry into an M.P. mill compound SRA project at Tardeo. The minister had approved the project without informing the CM, but wrote on the files that the CM was aware about it. However, he has pleaded “not guilty” and said he was ready to face any inquiry.
Leader of opposition, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said that Mr Mehta himself accepted his mistake. “Mehta should immediately resign. He has said that he did not inform the CM about the project,” he said. There was an uproar in the House and it was adjourned four times.
As the opposition has a majority in the upper house, the ruling BJP members walked out of the house and did not participate in the proceedings.
Meanwhile, the press release was circulated without any letterhead or signature of Mr Mehta, countering the allegations levelled against him in the SRA project. The end of the release said that it was not just the opposition, but also his own party colleagues who were targeting him.
Speaking to the media, the minister said he was not aware of any such letter. “I have already given a clarification on the issue in the assembly. There is nothing new that I have to say. I have not sent any press release nor has my office,” he said.
According to the buzz in the corridors of power on Wednesday, this controversy surrounding the housing minister clearly indicates that all is not well in the Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A group of BJP leaders have been feeling isolated in the party, sources said. Mr Mehta is believed to be close to BJP national president Amit Shah and this was a point of jealousy for many leaders within party. It was also rumoured that he received the housing ministry portfolio because of his proximity to Mr Shah.
The chief minister was junior to Mr Mehta and a few others when the BJP was in the opposition in the state.
However, when Mr Fadnavis became the CM, Mr Mehta was a senior leader in his cabinet along with revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, education minister Vinod Tawde, finance minister Sudheer Mungantiwar and former minister Ekanath Khadse. The buzz is that after Mr Fadnavis became the CM, a group in the BJP kept its distance from him. When Mr Khadse had to resign from the ministry in June 2016, there was buzz that he had been cut to size as a result of inter-party tussle.
Without due permission from the CM, Mr Mehta wrote on the SRA project file that the former had been informed.
The project allowed extra building rights to slum dwellers in M.P. mill compound, that were transferred to another project meant for project affected people. According to development control rules, there is no such provision for transferring rights. However, the CM was not informed about the project approval and he halted it later.
