Mumbai: The monsoon session of the Maharashtra state legislature, which will resume on Monday, promises to be a stormy one for the Devendra Fadnavis-led government. The opposition parties are fully geared to raise their voice against the loan waiver given to farmers, loaded with conditions. The Congress and the NCP are also going to question the government over the hasty implementation of GST.
The loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore announced by the government is yet to be implemented and the traders community is not happy with the way GST was implemented without preparation. “The loan waiver is going to be the main issue during this session. The government has cheated the farmers and the claims are completely false. There are many other issues like the SRA scam, which hinted at a direct involvement by the Chief Minister’s office. The state’s financial condition is so weak that the government has cut funds of the development schemes,” Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said.
Pointing at the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that his party has already given notice that it would raise the issue. “The jail administration has been questioned due to many untoward incidents. The government will have reply on the loan waiver issue, as no farmers have received any benefit from it,” he said.
Even ruling coalition partners, the Shiv Sena is all said to raise questions about the delay in implementing the loan waiver. “We will be raising issues about the loan waiver and its implementation. I am going to talk about the swine flu outbreak and atrocities against women,” Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe said.
However, the Bharatiya Janata Party said that citizens have accepted the decision and have no complaints. “The opposition are crying foul. Did the Congress-NCP not waste funds in the last budget session by boycotting it? The people have accepted the financial reforms through GST and they are happy,” BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said.
Impact on finances
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday conceded that although the loan waiver given to the farmers would affect the state exchequer, it would not hamper any development projects. The CM’s statement comes after reports that the government was going to cut the budget meant for development schemes by 30 per cent for raising funds to pay off the waivers.
Mr Fadnavis also suggested that some ‘invisible hands’ are working in support of the BJP government, hinting at the cross voting that happened during the Presidential elections earlier this week.
Trying to pacify the concerns about cost cutting, Mr Fadnavis further said that the government is trying to make a provision in such a way that the investment in the agriculture sector will not be affected because of the waiver issue. While speaking to a Marathi news channel on Saturday, he said, “We have initiated a few projects to build food processing units in Maharashtra. The Centre too has given a nod for these projects.”
