Nagpur, Dec 7 – A day before commencement of the winter session of the state Legislature in second capital of Maharashtra, the Opposition parties on Wednesday boycotted the customary tea party and have trained their guns on the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena (Balasaheb)-NCP government, alleging that the government has failed to tackle the agrarian distress, riots, and drug crime.
Speaking to reporters here, the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, cited the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data to target the government.
“We received the invitation of the state government for the tea party, but we feel it would be highly
inappropriate to attend it. We have decided to boycott the event,” the Congress leader said.
Referring to the NCRB data, Wadettiwar claimed 22,746 farmers have allegedly committed suicide in
Maharashtra because of agrarian distress and indebtedness, while the government has failed to address the agrarian distress in the state.
There is no check on the rampant drug supply in the state, he alleged.
Earlier in the day, opposition parties held a meeting in Nagpur to discuss the agenda for the winter session, likely to be dominated by issues such as the Maratha reservation demand and crop loss among others, in next 10 days.
This meeting was attended by former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and Wadettiwar (both Congress), opposition leader in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve (Shiv Sena-UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leaders Jayant Patil and Anil Deshmukh.
Other leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), including Aaditya Thackeray, state Congress president Nana Patole, Congress Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat and ex-CM Ashok Chavan, however, were not present at the meeting.
