Poll gloom dominates first meet of Maha cabinet post rout

The poor show of the Congress-NCP combine in the Lok Sabha elections seemed to have its bearing on the Maharashtra cabinet which met for the first time today in the aftermath of the poll debacle.
Sources said that at the meeting, ministers from both the parties who lost to their NDA opponents raised issues which they faced during the campaigning.
In an unprecedented rout in Maharashtra, Congress won only two out of the 27 seats it had contested while its ally NCP bagged four out of 21 seats. NDA tally stood at 42 seats.
The ministers who bit dust, like Chhagan Bhujbal, Suresh Dhas, Sunil Tatkare (all NCP) and Shivajirao Moghen (Congress) attended the meeting, the sources said.

Tatkare, who went down fighting against Shiv Sena MP Anant Gite in Raigad seat, raised the issue of delay in development of the Diggi port and demanded that the developer be served notice, they said.
While Dhas, who was defeated by BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde in Beed, highlighted the acute water scarcity in Marathwada region, other ministers spoke on the controversial toll issue.

The Employment Guarentee Scheme (EGS) Minister Nitin Raut, who had quit after former BJP president Nitin Gadkari got a lead of 12,000 from his Assembly constituency in Nagpur against the Congress MP in fray, raised the issue of delay in setting up of the National Law School in the state and demanded that a proposal be moved in the Cabinet for starting the admission process.

The law school is proposed to be set up in Mumbai, Nagpur and Aurangabad.
Another issue was of the financial troubles of Buldhana, Nagpur and Wardha district co-operative banks and the cabinet deliberated on giving financial assistance of over Rs 260 crore to save them from liquidation.
Congress-NCP which has been in power in Maharashtra for 15 years will seek a fourth term in office in the Assembly polls scheduled later this year.