Fed up of detractors, Uddhav Thackeray arms party legislators with bag of documents related to scandals under current regime, directs them to be aggressive to DF government
Fed up of detractors, Uddhav Thackeray arms party legislators with bag of documents related to scandals under current regime, directs them to be aggressive to DF government
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PIC/NIMESH DAVE
In a meeting of party legislators yesterday at Shivalaya, Sena's office at Nariman Point, Executive President Uddhav Thackeray enumerated 35 hot issues that the Sena will pull up the government for. Handing over a bag of dossiers related to the listed controversies, he asked the legislators, in a stern directive, to use the incriminating documents in aggressively hauling the Prithviraj Chavan government on the carpet.u00a0
"I am not ready to accept that my MLAs are not studious or are not consistent in the State Assembly or the Council," said Uddhav while addressing the legislators. "Details of the issues that I have given to you are for raising debate and corner the government. The Congress-NCP ministers should find it tough to face you," saidu00a0 Thackeray.
The move to fusillade the government comes after Uddhav found himself constantly being picked on ufffd from cousin and MNS chief Raj Thackeray over the Sena's feeble performance as a major Opposition party, from the media over potholed roads, from Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who has questioned Sena chief Bal Thackeray's contribution to the overall development of state.
On the boil
Though its outward symptoms are being felt now, the discontent over being the Aunt Sally in state politics has been simmering for quite some time in the party's higher circles. Reportedly, in May, soon after the State Budget Session, Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had chided party legislators over their watery response to the "government's failure" in various spheres and asked them to be more vigorous in their response toward it.
In keeping with Balasaheb's word, Thackeray, in yesterday's meeting, told the MLAs to vehemently raise issues such as the murder of MiD DAY journalist J Dey, environmental violations in the development of Lavasa hill city, involvement of the ruling party's workers in criminal activities and so on.
Besides the rabble-rousing address, a presentation on the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project proposed to be set up in Ratnagiri district was made at the meeting.
There were also speeches by experts on long-due mill land issue and rehabilitation of mill workers. The purpose was, again, to arm his party men with ammunition to fire the salvo at the government.u00a0u00a0
Going solo
Such was the anguish of the Sena after being belittled over a sustained span of time that it decided on the strategy of taking on the government on its own, with no word of consultation with its partner, the BJP. Despite a coalition of around two decades, the Sena asked its legislators to adopt the party line, sans a joint strategy of going on the offensive along with its saffron partner.u00a0u00a0u00a0
Hot issues
The list of issues the Shiv Sena plans to take up with the government include:
*u00a0Senior MiD DAY journalist J Dey's murder
* Hiranandani Garden land scam in Powai
* Subhash Nagar redevelopment project in Chembur
* Government failure in detecting the serial bomb blasts on July13
* Power supply issues
* Demand for white papers on state's financial position,
* Scams from state water conservation department headed by Sunil Tatkare
* Deputy CM Ajit Pawar's involvement in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scandal
* Scam in the Department of Sales Tax, involving tax-defaulting steel traders
* Law and order situation in the state,
* Robberies, with atrocities against women, female infanticides, other crimes on the rise
* The MMRDA's functioning and it's alleged instrumentalisation by the state to compete with Sena-ruled BMC
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