Government did not give replies, Oppn was not allowed to speak in House: Vijay Wadettiwar

Vijay Wadettiwar. File Pic

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Wednesday said the Eknath Shinde-led government did not provide answers to the questions raised during the just-concluded winter session in Nagpur, nor was the Opposition allowed to speak, reported news agency PTI.

Vijay Wadettiwar, a Congress leader, was speaking at a press conference after the legislative assembly was prorogued along with the legislative council.

The Opposition wanted the duration of the session to be extended, but the government did not accede to the request, he said, reported PTI.

Claiming that the coalition government of the BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP behaved in an arrogant manner following the BJP's victory in assembly elections in three states, he said it refused to reply to the questions raised by the opposition, reported PTI.

Important bills were passed in the assembly without proper discussion, Wadettiwar said.

The government also did not give any concrete assurance on the Maratha reservation demand, he said, reported PTI.

It did not do justice to the issues of the Vidarbha region as well as the issues of farmers and minority communities, the Congress leader claimed, reported PTI.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sunil Prabhu said though the session took place in Nagpur, the government did not initiate any discussion on the issues pertaining to the Vidarbha region and Nagpur city, reported PTI.

CM Shinde only kept talking about Mumbai, his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray, Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and "Matoshree" (the Thackeray residence), Prabhu said, adding "he is targeting Thackeray because of the praise received by the (previous) MVA government for its work during the pandemic."

NCP leader Anil Deshmukh said that for the first time in the legislature's history the government did not initiate any discussion on the issues of Vidarbha during a winter session, reported PTI.

The issues of soyabean and paddy farmers were not discussed, he said.

NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad said the outcome of the session was zero as farmers and people of the Vidarbha region received nothing. "No special project or financial help was announced for Vidarbha," he said, reported PTI.

The government tabled supplementary demands of a total of Rs 1.16 lakh crore in the past one and a half years and it was pushing the state into bankruptcy, Awhad claimed, reported PTI.

He also asked why contracts of 400 km of roads in Mumbai were allocated to contractors from other states.

(With inputs from PTI)