BJP’s Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Devendra Fadnavis on Monday dubbed the ruling tripartite ‘Maha Vikas Aghadi’ (MVA) government of the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress as “corrupt” and “oppressive”. He said these parties had formed the government by “deception” and that there was a ‘20-20 match’ on between them as to who was more corrupt than the other two.
Speaking in Gadchiroli district, when he launched the BJP’s ‘Jan Aakrosh Morcha’ against the MVA, Mr. Fadnavis accused the MVA of only looking after the interests of builders rather than considering the plight of farmers.
‘Liquor barons helped’
“Instead of helping farmers by waiving the electricity bills and tribal people, the government helped the liquor barons during the pandemic by waiving 50% of their licence fees. But the electricity bills of the farmers of Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Nandurbar districts have not been waived,” the former Chief Minister stated.
Claiming that no Chief Minister visited the Naxalite-hit Gadchiroli as much as he had and that no party but the BJP had the interests of the locals at their heart, he accused the MVA of being at the mercy of builders.
“There are ‘20-20 matches’ of corruption currently ongoing in this government. While being partial to the interests of builders and liquor store owners, why was no bonus grain allotted to farmers during the pandemic,” he asked.
Alleges betrayal of people’s mandate
Mr. Fadnavis reiterated how the Shiv Sena - the BJP’s erstwhile saffron partner in Maharashtra – had betrayed the people’s mandate after the 2019 Assembly elections by allying instead with the ideologically opposed NCP and the Congress.
He took aim at the Sena, questioning how its corporator Yashwant Jadhav, believed to be a confidante of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, amassed a massive fortune of ₹400 crore.
Recently, the Income Tax Department raided the homes of Mr. Jadhav, an important Sena leader in the Brihanmumbai Corporation (BMC) and his family, prompting the latter party to decry the alleged misuse of Central agencies by the BJP ahead of the high-stakes BMC election to be held later this year.
