Leaders from across opposition parties, including Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Bhaskar Jadhav, Congress leaders Vijay Wadettiwar and Satej Patil, and NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil, expressed disappointment, claiming the government failed to address key regional and policy issues
CM Devendra Fadnavis speaks on the floor of the House on the last day of the Winter Session on Sunday. Pic/X
The opposition on Sunday dubbed the seven-day winter session of the Maharashtra Legislature an “election jumla”, alleging that the government’s primary focus was on clearing supplementary demands worth Rs 75,000 crore to distribute “revdis” ahead of the upcoming local body elections, news agency PTI reported.
Leaders from across opposition parties, including Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’s Bhaskar Jadhav, Congress leaders Vijay Wadettiwar and Satej Patil, and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Jayant Patil, expressed disappointment, claiming the government failed to address key regional and policy issues. They said discussions during the Nagpur session focused more on Mumbai than on Vidarbha.
The first phase of elections to various local bodies was held on December 2, while the poll schedule for several civic bodies, including the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, is yet to be announced. As per a Supreme Court order, elections to urban and local bodies in the state are to be completed by January 31, 2026.
Addressing a press conference, Wadettiwar said nothing concrete emerged from the session, which concluded on Sunday, on critical issues such as malnutrition. He alleged that opposition demands related to farmers, irrigation and other concerns were completely ignored.
“The winter session was an election jumla. The issues discussed in the Calling Attention motion were more related to Mumbai and less concerning Vidarbha, with no time restrictions,” said Wadettiwar, who leads the Congress Legislature Party in the Assembly. He also claimed that not a single new dam has been built in Vidarbha since the BJP came to power in 2014.
Wadettiwar criticised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s concluding speech, calling it “old wine in a new bottle” and alleging it was a “copy-and-paste job”.
He further alleged that corruption has increased in the state, adding that the opposition cited several examples during the session.
Jadhav said the winter session yielded nothing substantial for the people of Vidarbha and Marathwada.
“The session was held just to grab funds by way of approving the supplementary demands and to distribute ‘revdis’ ahead of the local body elections. That’s why we skipped the customary tea party on the session eve,” he said.
He claimed that the government got supplementary demands of Rs 75,000 crore approved within two days, after which ministers began skipping the House.
Jadhav also noted that the legislature functioned for an average of 10 hours a day, indicating opposition cooperation in the larger public interest, but alleged that none of the decisions benefitted Vidarbha.
“All announcements were made keeping the upcoming municipal corporation elections in mind, especially in Mumbai,” he said, adding that the Chief Minister’s Assembly speech was identical to the one delivered during the budget session in Mumbai.
Jadhav also claimed the CM did not mention the state’s “water drought” or farm loan waivers.
Patil said the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) had signed 190 memoranda of understanding since 2022, involving an investment potential of Rs 20.62 lakh crore and an estimated employment generation of around 13 lakh, but the government failed to provide concrete answers on their status. He also alleged that the drug menace was rising in the state and crime was increasing in Pune, while lamenting that the winter session was “too short”.
“The only objective of the session seems to be getting the supplementary demands approved,” Patil said.
Congress leader Satej Patil said the government failed to address issues faced by cotton, soyabean and orange growers, and accused it of making big announcements without adequate financial backing.
“It made so many announcements that even the supplementary demands of Rs 75,000 crore would fall short,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sachin Ahir said the last-week resolution speech was largely confined to attacking party chief and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
“By reversing old decisions, the CM and deputy CMs unleashed a barrage of announcements. They did not do justice to the issues raised by the Opposition,” he added.
(With PTI inputs)
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