Ajit Pawar accuses govt of fiscal indiscipline, targets Fadnavis over size of supplementary demand

Ajit Pawar. File Pic

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar on Tuesday accused the state government of financial indiscipline after it tabled a more than Rs 52,000 crore supplementary demand last week.

He also pointed out that the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government does not have a single woman minister.

You have breached fiscal discipline, Pawar said, noting that when he was finance minister in the previous Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP and Congress government, he had presented a budget of Rs 5,60,000 crore in March 2022.

The Eknath Shinde government came to power in June.

Devendra Fadnavis, his successor in the finance ministry, presented his first supplementary demand of Rs 25,000 crore in an earlier session and the second demand of record Rs 52,000 crore last week, Pawar pointed out.

If a third demand is tabled, the total could go up to Rs 1 lakh crore or around 20 per cent of the original budget tabled in March, he said.

You (Fadnavis) keep talking about fiscal discipline, and it should be followed. You have violated fiscal discipline. You tabled a record supplementary demand, Pawar said.

Fadnavis presented a supplementary demand of Rs 52,327 crore on December 19, of which Rs 8,945 crore were earmarked for the Urban Development Department.

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Rs 15,856 crore is for capital cost and Rs 36,000 crore is to take care of 40 MLAs, Pawar said, in a veiled reference to the 40 legislators of the Shiv Sena which broke away under Shinde's leadership to topple the previous government.

By the end of the financial year, the budget could rise to Rs 6.6 lakh crore, he further said.

New infrastructure is not being built. This is fiscal indiscipline, Pawar added.

He also rued that the government does not have a ingle woman member.

"Women's participation is very necessary for holistic decision-making," he added.

The NCP leader also alleged that development works in the constituencies of opposition party MLAs have been stalled.

The previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government never delayed development works in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, he claimed.

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