Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad.
Credit: X/@VarshaEGaikwad
Mumbai: Mumbai Regional Congress Committee President and MLA Prof. Varsha Gaikwad, on Wednesday, lambasted the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government in Maharashtra for insulting the public mandate in 15 assembly seats where MLAs are not from the ruling party.
Gaikwad also demanded an inquiry into where exactly this money went when no development work had been done even after disbursing funds to the ruling party MLAs.
"The government has insulted the democratically elected representatives and millions of Mumbaikars who elected them. While allocating funds for the development works of Mumbai, the Shinde government has avoided giving funds to the opposition MLAs by giving funds only to the ruling MLAs. This is vindictive politics from the Shinde government due to which Mumbaikars of the said 15 assembly constituencies are deprived of development. We strongly condemn this policy, and the Shinde government will have to be answerable," Gaikwad said.
Gaikwad alleged that the ruling MLAs do not do any development work in their constituencies despite ample fund allocation. "The question arises: where exactly did this money go? All cases should be investigated fairly and action should be taken. Congress will take legal action and take to streets along with Mumbaikars in protest," Gaikwad said in a statement.
Gaikwad added that Mumbai Guardian Ministers are working as per the orders of the state government. "The government has already avoided municipal elections for over two years, leaving no scope for representatives to voice Mumbaikars' complaints and wishes. There have been several instances of contracts worth crores being awarded without any discussion. Letters of all 15 opposition MLAs have been dismissed until now and funds are only being disbursed to 21 ruling MLAs," she said.
Considering that there are no corporators in BMC, it decided to carry out development works in various municipal departments through MLAs. According to this resolution, it was decided to provide a fund of Rs 35 crore for each MLA. Accordingly, all MLAs submitted letters to the Guardian Minister demanding funds for development works in their areas. "However, the Guardian Minister sanctioned funds only to 21 MLAs of the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena Shinde faction. But funds of 15 MLAs from Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) group and other opposition parties were not sanctioned," Gaikwad claimed.
Notably, Gaikwad, in March 2023, had written a letter to Guardian Minister Deepak Kesarkar requesting funds of Rs 26.51 crore for development works in the Dharavi constituency but no funds have yet been allotted
Alleging that this is a betrayal of Mumbaikars, Gaikwad said, "The formation of the Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar government is through politics of extortion. There are attempts made daily to poach former corporators and opposition MLAs. However, since the Mahavikas Aghadi MLAs are not responding, the government is trying to capture them through the ED on one side and the administrators and guardian ministers of the Municipal Corporation on the other side."