Maha Legislature begins tomorrow; Oppn boycotts CM's tea party

The monsoon session of Maharashtra Legislature begins tomorrow, with a buyoant opposition ready to take on the Congress-NCP government which is on the defensive after the drubbing it received in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Leaders of the BJP-Shiv Sena led Mahayuti alliance told reporters here today that the government has lost trust of people as it has failed to fulfil assurances made by it before last Assembly polls in 2009.
This session will be the first after the Lok Sabha poll results and last before the state Assembly elections, slated in four months.
"We will meet you as part of the new government on the eve of the next Legislature session (to be held in December)," Leader of Opposition in Legislative Council Vinod Tawde said.

A meeting of the opposition leaders held here this afternoon decided to boycott the Chief Minister's customary tea party on the session's eve.
"The Prithviraj Chavan-led government has lost the trust of people as it has done nothing for them. The state is reeling under a Rs three lakh crore debt due to the regime's corruption and inefficiency," Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Eknath Khadse said.

Shiv Sena group leader in the Assembly Subhash Desai alleged that under the Chief Minister's watch, almost 500 acres of land was given to builders while the Model Code for Lok Sabha elections was in place.

Tawde also criticised Chavan for appointing Jitendra Awhad, whose name figured in the Adarsh housing scam, as minister.
In an apparent reference to recently-reinstated bureaucrats Jairaj Phatak and Pradeep Vyas, whose names also figured in the scam, Khadse said, "The most corrupt person is one who protects the corrupt.