Fadnavis dubs winter session of Maha Assembly as 'farce'

Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the state Assembly's winter session, set to begin from Monday, is a "farce" as the Uddhav Thackeray-led government has not completed allocation of portfolios to minsters.

Fadnavis, who is leader of the opposition (LoP) in the Maharashtra Assembly, alleged that the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was spreading "misinformation" about the state's financial condition.

He also demanded that the state government disburse Rs 23,000 crore to farmers for waiving their outstanding loans.

Thackeray, who heads the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, took oath as chief minister on November 28 along with six ministers -- two each from the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress.

On December 12, the Sena was allotted the home, industries and urban development portfolios. The NCP got finance and the Congress got charge of the revenue department.

The winter session of the state legislature will begin in Nagpur on Monday and conclude on December 21.

Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Fadnavis said the new government came to power over two weeks back but "no official portfolio allocation has been done so far".

"The current allocation of ministerial portfolios is temporary. Therefore, this winter session is nothing but a farce. It seems the Thackeray-led government is not serious about this session," the BJP leader said.

He alleged that deliberate attempts were being made to spread "misinformation" about the state's financial condition.

"There were some loans obtained outside the budget, but it has been shown as part of the budget and the amount of outstanding loan has been inflated. I think this information is being spread to postpone some critical decisions in future," Fadnavis said.

The LoP also demanded that the government disburse Rs 23,000 crore to farmers for waiving their outstanding dues.

"Thackeray, and the NCP and Congress earlier demanded disbursement of Rs 23,000 crore. Now it is time for them to implement it," Fadnavis said.

"The BJP is not demanding it, but we are pointing out their own demands which were made when these parties (NCP and Congress) were in the opposition," the former chief minister said.

The Sena had earlier also demanded clearing of 7/12 land record receipts, he said, adding that the Thackeray-led state government should now do it at the earliest.

The previous Fadnavis-led government last year launched an online service to provide authenticated 7/12 land record receipts, a crucial piece of document for establishment of ownership of a piece of land.

The receipt is extensively used by farmers for loan agreements, crop survey and for availing government facilities.