Budget session day 2: MVA mismanaged pandemic, says Devendra Fadnavis

BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. File Pic

Leading the charge, opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis accused the Thackeray government of mismanaging, in particular, the novel Coronavirus pandemic, and in general, the overall situation of the state in the past one year.

Fadnavis was debating the governor's address - a statement of the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) achievements - in the Assembly on Tuesday. He said it was satisfying that the MVA government had thought of congratulating the governor, but decried the soured relations between the state and the Raj Bhavan. "There have been instances of the governor and the government sharing strained relations, but no government has been mean like the MVA. Refusing the governor the state aircraft was very serious," he said, adding that the governor was made to read a speech that was suitable for a corner meeting instead of real statement on behalf of the government. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is expected to reply on Wednesday.

Fadnavis said the MVA could have mitigated the pandemic by way of increased testing through the past year. "If handled better, the state could have reduced the number of patients by 9,55,000 and deaths by 30,900. Who is responsible for this?" he asked. He said the pandemic was still serious in nature. He said the Centre's economic survey report said a lot about Maharashtra's failure in mitigating the pandemic. The former CM also alleged corruption in the COVID-19 management. "There are testing rackets operating unchecked," he said, citing irregularities in Amravati and Navi Mumbai.

Mocking the CM, he said the government was busy in ‘Facebook live'. "The Facebook live on February 21 was the best. The CM said his voice reached the people but the people's voice did not reach him. In fact, we have been trying to tell the CM in the past 15 months that the people's voice is not reaching him," he said.

Reconsider Metro-3 decision
Fadnavis criticised the government for stalling good projects like Mumbai Metro 3. He said the trees to be cut to build a new facility and approach line would be much more than what the existing Aarey site would require when the capacity needed to be augmented in the next 25 years. "Please consider the environmental loss in the long run and the delay the changed plan would cause in delivering the metro that was originally planned to start this year. The massive cost escalation will be an addition," he said while urging the CM.

The opposition leader said certain people in the government didn't want tribal students to get their scholarship/allowances transferred directly to the bank accounts because they wanted certain contractors to benefit in the supply side. "The Mumbai School of Economics conducted a survey in which 90% respondents wanted direct bank transfer (DBT), but a good scheme is being shut to encourage corruption," he said. Members of the ruling side spoke in favour of the government, praising it for fighting all odds in mitigating the pandemic and the bad economy.