CM says boycott not healthy, but opposition stands ground

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today said boycott of Legislative Assembly proceedings by opposition was not a healthy sign for the democracy.
"I held extensive meetings with the Leader of Opposition Eknath Khadse and other group leaders and assured them that their complaint of bias in distribution of development and drought relief funds will be looked into, in two days. However, my assurance did not satisfy them and they decided to boycott the proceedings. I appeal them to participate in the House proceedings," Chavan said.
A 48-member delegation of opposition legislators led by Eknath Khadse and Shiv Sena group leader Subhash Desai met Governor K Sankaranarayanan and handed him a memorandum on the government's alleged bias towards constituencies represented by ruling parties' legislators.

Earlier, talking to reporters, Khadse said their protest would continue till demands were met. Government had allocated maximum funds to constituencies of Congress-NCP legislators, he alleged.
"Recently government allocated Rs 150 crore for ten tehsils as pre-budget allocation for drought-relief; nine tehsils were from the western Maharashtra (Sangli, Satara and Pune) and only one from Marathwada.
"When we asked about the criteria, we were told that the groundwater level has decreased by more than two metres in these tehsils so Rs 15 crore each additional funds were given.
"When we investigated this issue in depth, it was revealed that there are almost 64 tehsils besides these ten tehsils across the state (with same situation)," Khadse said.

"We have decided to boycott until our demands are met. We are going to meet the Governor also for equal distribution of funds," he said.