Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde faces first major graft allegation

Opposition parties including the Thackeray Sena have slapped accusation of corruption against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over regularising a piece of land in Nagpur for a fee of Rs 2 crore even as it was priced at Rs 83R100 crore as per the ready reckoner rate They demanded Shindersquos resignation Calling the allegations baseless the CM hit back at Uddhav Thackeray saying that the former CM had given undue benefit to some builders in MumbaiIn the upper house opposition leader Ambadas Danve raised the matter alleging that the high court had passed strictures against Shinde when he was the urban development minister in the previous governmentDeputy CM Devendra Fadnavis responded to the allegations saying that the charges were false and the regularisation was done as per the government rules of 2009 Later NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal took up the issue in the lower house following which Fadnavis defended ShindeAlso Read Uddhav demands Maharashtra CMs resignation after Bombay HC order in land allotment caseAs the Opposition demanded to know it from the horsersquos mouth Shinde said that before he decided the plaintiffrsquos a builder as per the allegations appeal he was not informed about the pending court cases and other matters related to the layouts that the Nagpur Improvement Trust had regularised before ldquoIrsquom not like the people who gave a benefit of over Rs 300 crore to a builder who is demanding R1000 more for his land in Mumbairdquo he saidHe added ldquoMy verdict was as per the 2009 decision that had instructions to charge the regularisation charges I merely asked the NIT to follow the governmentrsquos previous decision under which 34 other layouts were regularised in a similar fashionrdquo He further added that he stayed his decision after the facts of the court cases were brought to his notice He said some 3000 people have been staying on the said land since 2001According to Shinde the court had asked the government to file its response ldquoThere was no interim stay when I decided the appeal of the land ownersrdquo he said showing the recommendation letters from MVA legislators and ministersThe Opposition walked out in protest when they were not permitted to speak further on the issue Tempers ran high when the Thackeray Sena and ruling MLAs exchanged heated words BJPrsquos Ashish Shelar took objection to Aaditya Thackerayrsquos remarks Senior leaders including Fadnavis walked up to the members to pacify them before the arguments could escalatelsquoWhy stay decision if legalrsquoFormer CM Uddhav Thackeray who is in Nagpur for the session asked why Shinde stayed his own decision if it was legal ldquoHe should say it Political interference is inappropriate He should not stay in officerdquo he saidHe added that the NIT had refused to regularise the land at a rate less than ready reckoner ldquoOur query remained unanswered though the CM has told a story in the houserdquoThe former CM said that though the MVA government was in power when Shinde stayed his decision in the NIT land the fact remained that he Shinde was the minister incharge then and continues to be the head of the department even now ldquoSome people went to jail Should we also send the CM to jailrdquo he said adding that the attention should not be diverted in the name of a subjudice case He promised to pursue the allegations further in the legislatureThackeray also wondered whether the courtrsquos directives and the governmentrsquos decision of bringing the CM and the Cabinet under the ambit of Lokayukta was a mere coincidence ldquoIs it that the state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankulersquos wish that Fadnavis be made the CM in his presidency will be fulfilled soonrdquo he saidMikes go muteThe Assembly was stalled for around one hour on Tuesday not due to forced adjournment but because of a technical snag which silenced the inhouse sound system The mikes went off while Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis was speaking The speaker stopped work for 10 minutes twice and later took off for 30 minutes Normalcy was restored in the third adjournment Opposition leader Ajit Pawar vented his anger saying ldquoThis is shamefulrdquo