Munde takes dig at Vikhe Patil over Housing portfolio

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council, Dhananjay Munde, Wednesday wondered whether newly-appointed Housing Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, a former Congress leader who had alleged FSI violation in a Mumbai redevelopment project, would be able to give justice to his department.

Vikhe Patil had last year raised serious allegations of corruption in the project when he was the Leader of Opposition of the Legislative Assembly.

In recent expansion of Cabinet, Vikhe Patil replaced BJP's Prakash Mehta who is accused of permitting a builder to increase the floor space index (FSI) in excess of norms in the redevelopment project.

Last year, Vikhe Patil had alleged that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) struck a deal of Rs 10,000 crore with some builders in lieu of introducing favourable changes in the Mumbai Development Plan-2034.

"As a Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Vikhe Patil had levelled allegations of Rs one lakh crore corruption through the misuse of the MP Mill FSI. Now, he has joined the BJP and given the charge of Housing department. I wonder how he would give justice to the department," questionned Munde.

The NCP leader was speaking during a discussion on the conventional address of the Governor to both Houses of the legislature.

"We are keen on seeing how Vikhe Patil would face the issues in coming days as the Housing ministry has remained controversial," he said.