Internal power tussle on among Mahayuti allies, situation alarming as chaos in governance: Patole

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Thursday claimed that there was an ”internal tussle” for power among the ruling Mahayuti partners and the government was functioning in a chaotic manner.

Talking to reporters here, he alleged that Maharashtra was in a state of turmoil as Devendra Fadnavis had failed to handle his responsibilities as chief minister effectively.

”Ever since the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance came to power, there has been an internal tussle for power among the three ruling parties. The situation in the government is alarming as it is functioning in a chaotic manner,” he alleged.

Fadnavis leads the Mahayuti government comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

“The state is in a turmoil because CM Fadnavis is failing to handle his responsibilities properly. Fadnavis should do justice to the CM post,” Patole said.

The government was indifferent to the plight of its “ladki bahins” (beloved sisters), he said, referring to the Ladki Bahin Yojana, under which women are given a financial assistance of Rs 1,500 per month.

“Unemployment is rampant. Husbands of beloved sisters, who are farmers, are committing suicide daily. The government promised a price of Rs 6,000 per quintal for soybeans, but farmers are not even getting Rs 3,000. The situation of paddy, onions, and cotton is no different,” he said.

In the government, 65 per cent of the ministers have tainted backgrounds. Maharashtra’s reputation is getting tarnished daily. Corruption cases in Beed district are surfacing one after the other, and a similar situation prevails in Pune and other districts, the Congress leader said.

“Even ruling party MLAs are openly admitting corruption,” he claimed.

When asked about Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar’s statement that no crop insurance scam took place in Beed district, Patole said, “A ruling party MLA himself has admitted to corruption in the crop insurance scheme. Even the agriculture minister has acknowledged it.”

The committee appointed to investigate the crop insurance scam has also confirmed corruption. But if Ajit Pawar still claims that no scam took place, he is blatantly lying, Patole added.