Maharashtra session: Opposition to corner govt on refinery, farm loan waive

Nagpur the second capital of Maharashtra is set to host the state Legislatures monsoon session from July 4 with the opposition planning to target the government on the Nanar refinery and farm loan waiver issues The opposition is planning to put the ruling BJP and the Shiv Sena on the mat over their conflicting stands on theNanar refinery project the statewide ban on the use of plastic and the bullet train projectWhile the Shiv Sena is opposing the bullet train and the Nanar refinery projects the BJP is not wholeheartedly supporting the plastic ban a brainchild of Sena leader Aaditya ThackerayBJP legislator Raj Purohit had earlier written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking a stay on the plastic ban till December 2019 till an alternative to the prohibited material is put in placeThe opposition Congress and NCP have been critical of the AhmedabadMumbai bullet train project and are planning tocorner the government over it during the session which will conclude on July 20They are also opposing the integrated refinery and petrochemicals project set to come up at Nanar in the coastalRatnagiri district and plan to target the government on the farmers loan waiver issue tooNCP spokesman Nawab Malik said even after a year there was no smooth implementation of the loan waiver schemeFarmers are facing hardships in availing crop loans The crime incidents are on the rise The Nanar refinery andthe bullet train projects will further hurt farmers since their land will be taken away The BJP and the Sena are justplaying politics over these issues Malik chargedCongress spokesman Sachin Sawant claimed that farmers were yet to get compensation for their crops infected by pinkbollworm a pest last yearMeanwhile a senior BJP leader said the government is expecting a smooth session and is ready for discussion on anyissue raised by the oppositionThe session is likely to take up various bills including an amendment to provide higher compensation to farmers and expedite the process of land acquisition for highways across the state parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat saidThe state government has mandated that compensation for land acquisition should be at least four times the registered or the ready reckoner priceWhile the session would be in progress the biennial elections to 11 Legislative Council seats from the MLAs quotawill also be held on July 16The electoral college for the 11 seats are the 289 members of the Legislative Assembly Out of the 11 retiring members whose term ends on July 27 the Congress has three the NCPfour the BJPtwo and the Shiv Sena and the Peasants and Workers Party PWPone eachThe BJP is currently the single largest party in the Legislative Assembly with 122 members followed by the ShivSena with 63Given their numerical strength the BJP can have five members and the Sena two out of the 11 Council seats whichwill go to polls After this election the BJP is set to be the single largest party in the Upper House alsoSources in the BJP said the party will stake claim for posts of the Legislative Councils chairman and deputychairman currently held by the NCP and the Congress respectivelyHowever an NCP leader said there was no question of Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar chairman and Manikrao Thakre deputychairman quitting the postsLet the BJP bring a noconfidence motion against them and get it passed on the floor of the House he said In the 78member Legislative Council the NCP currently has 20 members Congress18 BJP20 Sena11 JDU PWP and Peoples Republican Party one each while there are six IndependentsThe monsoon session will be held in Nagpur which has been hosting the winter session after a gap of 47 yearsThis will be the fourth time that the monsoon session of the state Legislature will take place in the orange cityAccording to an official of the Vidhan Bhavan the monsoon sessions of the state Legislature were earlier held inNagpur in 1961 1966 and 1971