Nagpur: Commenting on the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report about crime rate in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of the State Devendra Fadnavis asserted that Maharashtra is not among top five states in the country in any of the crimes. Fadnavis brushed aside Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar’s allegation of ‘deteriorating’ law and order situation, saying that some people need training on ‘how to read crime statistics’.
About the NCRB data the Opposition needs to analyse it in ratio of population and that way Maharashtra is in much better position as compared to other States, Fadnavis clarified.
Chief minister Eknath Shinde called out the Opposition for ‘baseless allegations’ while referring to a letter sent by Wadettiwar, saying the Opposition does not have issues to talk about. Shinde added that his government is committed to the development of Vidarbha and feels a “special connection to the region”.
Shinde said, “The letter by Vijay Wadettiwar mentions a number of things, and none of the allegations stick. It’s probably because they have lost elections in three states that they are reacting like this.” The opposition’s biggest onslaught was on the agrarian crisis and what it termed as government’s failure to provide financial relief to ryots.
Exuding confidence over people’s mandate favouring Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra, the Chief Minister said that the the Opposition seems to be in utter disarray going by the current state of affairs in I.N.D.I. Alliance. “The massive mandate to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three crucial States shows that people have stamped their approval for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the same time, the rejection of Congress is indication of the people losing their trust in Rahul Gandhi,” Shinde said while interacting with media persons at ‘Ramgiri’ on the eve of Winter Session of State Legislature.
Leader of opposition in assembly Vijay Wadettiwar said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has boycotted Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s customary tea party because the state is facing one of the worst agrarian crisis and the government has proved inadequate in solving their problems. Wadettiwar sought complete loan waiver for all farmers.
Shinde further took a dig at Uddhav Thackeray accusing him of stalling development works in the State. The Mahayuti Government, on the other hand, is making all out efforts to help the farmers in distress, he said. Regarding bringing a resolution in Legislature on issue of reservations to Maratha, Shinde struck a somewhat repeated note about State Government’s commitment to the promise and also allayed fears of OBCs. But he did not comment on a definite timeline.
Earlier Fadnavis looked in combative mood as he flayed the Opposition for boycotting the customary CM’s tea party on the eve of winter session. Perhaps next time, the Opposition might be invited for paansupari, he quipped. Tearing through the joint letter of Opposition, Fadnavis pointed out that the erstwhile rulers seem to have forgotten that GR about contractual recruitment was issued during time of Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure and same is already scrapped by Chief Minister Shinde.
He expressed surprise that traditionally the winter session is customarily meant to address issues of Vidarbha and Marathwada but the Opposition did not mention even one pressing issue about the regions. Showcasing the economic momentum, the Deputy CM gave out figures of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) which is expected to reach Rs 35 lakh crore by end of financial year. “During 2013-14 the GSDP was just Rs 16 lakh crore which means that the growth is now 2.5 times and this indicates the State is on the right track,” he said.