Despite contentious issues being discussed in the winter session of the Maharashtra Assembly, which ended in Nagpur today, the Prithviraj Chavan-led government had a smooth sail.
A weak and fragmented Opposition had failed to grill the government, while the ruling alliance presented a united front on matters such as the Adarsh scam, alleged irregularities in the development of Lavasa lake city, damage caused due to untimely rain in a large number of districts, development of Jaitapur nuclear power project and coal-based project by Indiabulls in the Vidarbha region.
In the opening week, the Opposition failed to implement its strategy to take on the government for its apathy towards farmer who faced loss due to damage caused by unseasonal rain. Instead, five legislators of the Shiv Sena were suspended for a year for allegedly showing disrespect to the Constitution. The Shiv Sena-BJP alliance ultimately settled for a discussion after the government remained firm on its stand that it would announce a relief package for farmers only after the House holds comprehensive debate.
Chavan announced a package of Rs 1,000 crore, which he said was quite high compared to previous packages. The Opposition, left with no alternative, staged a walk out.
On December 15, the government withdrew suspension of the Sena legislators after the party assured such incident would not be repeated and said they had high respect for Dr B R Ambedkar and the Constitution.
It was a similar situation in the BJP where legislators were divided over the leadership of Eknath Khadase, who is the leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly. Khadase, who is yet to come out of shock of defeat of his son in the recently held elections to the state council in Jalgaon, was criticised for not giving enough opportunity to others to participate in debate.
On the Adarsh scam as well as the Lavasa controversy, the Opposition did not have much to argue. The chief minister, in fact, rejected the Opposition’s demand for an inquiry by a joint legislature committee, instead announced probe by a two-member inquiry commission comprising retired judges.
During the debate former chief minister Ashok Chavan, who had attacked party rivals for his ouster, clarified that the land on which Adarsh society has come up, belongs to the state government and was not a defence land.
However, BJP legislator Devendra Phadanvis, in the state Assembly, and Dhananjay Munde, in the state council, made frail attempts to indicate that the hill city development was the brain child of Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.
The government also turned down the Opposition’s demand for cancellation of the Jaitapur nuclear project and coal-based power projects by Indiabulls in Amravati district in the Vidarbha region. The issue, in fact, exposed the crack between the Sena and BJP. While the Shiv Sena strongly opposed the Jaitapur project, the BJP said the government cannot neglect issues involving safety, environment and rehabilitation.
