Mumbai: The Opposition ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ on Sunday decided to boycott the chief minister’s customary tea party on the eve of the Assembly session. The opposition leaders said they had received the invitation for the customary tea party, but decided not to attend it because the government led by CM Devendra Fadnavis is anti-farmers, anti-Dalit and it has failed to maintain law and order in the state. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray urged CM Devendra Fadnavis to drop deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde from his cabinet due to his involvement in the alleged Rs 12,000 crore road scam.
Leader of Opposition in the legislative council Ambadas Danve said, “The MVA has limited strength in the Assembly. But it will not stop us from challenging the state government on various issues, particularly those affecting farmers.”
In the recently held Assembly elections, the MVA won less than 50 seats in the 288-member House. No opposition party managed to win even minimum 29 seats required to get the post of the leader of opposition. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is the largest opposition party with 20 MLAs.
The MVA leaders, including Mr. Danve and Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar expressed concern over the short duration of the assembly session from December 16 to 21. “There are so many issues of public interest. Six days are enough to address all concerns,” Mr. Wadettiwar said.
Aaditya Thackeray asked Mr. Fadnavis to exclude former CM Eknath Shinde and two other former ministers, Mangalprabhat Lodha and Deepak Kesarkar, from the cabinet and urged the CM to start a formal inquiry into the alleged road scam. “This was Mumbai’s hard earned money. Wasted. For contractors and politicians to fill their pockets. I exposed them for the past 2 years, but the BJP supported that regime,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said in a post on X.
While Mr. Shinde and Mr. Lodha are part of the Fadnavis cabinet, Mr. Kesarkar did not find a place in the cabinet expansion that took place on Sunday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Fadnavis on Sunday held a road show in his hometown Nagpur. It was Mr. Fadnavis’s first visit to the city after becoming the CM. He travelled in a specially designed ‘Rath’ from Nagpur airport. “Nagpur city is my family and my family is welcoming me,” Mr. Fadnavis said during the roadshow.
