Set up 'shielding portfolio' and take charge of it, Uddhav slams Fadnavis over graft issue

Nagpur, Dec 11 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday accused Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis of shielding his "corrupt" cabinet colleagues and questioned the delay in appointing Leaders of Opposition in the state legislature.

He targeted Fadnavis over the corruption issue and alleged inaction on his part, claiming the CM has "changed" over the years.

Talking to reporters at party office in Vidhan Bhavan premises in Nagpur, where the state legislature is having its winter session, he alleged that corruption of some minister or the other was coming out in the open daily.

"Videos of their leaders with bundles of notes are coming out. Even, then the chief minister is not taking cognizance of the issue," Thackeray noted.

"I would say the chief minister should start a 'shielding portfolio' and take charge of it. I feel pity for the chief minister. What you were (in the past) and what you have become now," said the Opposition MLC, a former ally of the BJP, the party to which Fadnavis belongs.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Tuesday posted, on social media, videos purportedly showing an MLA of rival Shiv Sena on a video call with another person who is sitting amid bundles of cash.

While Danve claimed the cash belonged to MLAs of ruling parties, Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat dismissed the videos as morphed and AI-generated. A day later, Peasants and Workers Party leader Chitralekha Patil made a similar cash-related claim about a Shiv Sena minister.

To a query, Thackeray questioned why there was a delay in appointing Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in the legislative assembly as well as the council.

The former CM noted that months ago, the Shiv Sena (UBT) forwarded the name of party MLA Bhaskar Jadhav for the LoP post in the assembly, but no forward movement has taken on the matter.

If the BJP-led Mahayuti government can name two deputy chief minister, then why it is not appointing LoPs in the assembly as well as the council? he asked.

Thackeray questioned what happened to the financial 'package' announced by the chief minister for farmers affected by excessive rains.

He maintained Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan last month said his ministry has not received any proposal from Maharashtra for providing aid to calamity-affected farmers.

After this, the Mahayuti government suddenly sent a proposal for financial assistance to the Centre in the last week of November, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC stated.

"We want to ask what proposal has the state government sent to the Centre, how much relief amount it has demanded and who will be benefit from it. Details of the proposal should be tabled in the legislature. People should know whether the central government will help the state," he said.

Thackeray asserted farmers were not getting crop insurance benefits and the government should talk about issues related to cultivators in the ongoing session of the legislature. PTI CLS RSY