Opposition NCP in the Maharashtra Legislative Council today termed the motion of thanks on Governor's speech as "unconstitutional" as Sena MLCs were absent when it was read out.
Senior BJP leader Shobhatai Fadnavis read out the motion of thanks. While replying, NCP group leader Sunil Tatkare said that members of Shiv Sena, a partner in the government, were absent when it was read out, so it was "unconstitutional."
He also said that the governor's speech mentioned proposal for memorial of the late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, but not for the late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
"Balasaheb had a very important place in the politics of Maharashtra. It's good that the government talks of constructing a memorial for Munde. But why was no announcement made for Thackeray memorial? It means there is no place for the Sena in the government," Tatkare said.
He also said that the ruling BJP which boasted about giving Marathi classical language status put English words in the Governor's speech.
"There are 27 English words in the speech. This means your claim of giving Marathi the status of classical language is hollow. What's more surprising is even the Shiv Sena ministers did not object to this," Tatkare said.
"The speech lays out the plan for the next one year. But neither the BJP nor the Sena which call itself pro-farmers objected to the speech not mentioning hailstorms and unseasonal rains (that have hit the crops)," he added.
"There was nothing new in this speech. When was the Navi Mumbai airport plan announced? Did this government initiate the project? How can the government build 65 godowns and 16 girl hostels in 100 days? 90 per cent of the projects were started by the previous (Congress-NCP) government," he said.
"There seems to be no willpower to help farmers. If the government had it, it would have not thought twice before taking a loan and providing monetary help to farmers," Tatkare said.
