Red-faced on camera
Disgruntled MLAs hardly miss an opportunity to express their displeasure in front of the media. On Thursday, an unhappy BJP MLA from Vidarbha approached Shiv Sena MLC Anil Parab, who was speaking to journalists, and announced that he wanted to meet Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. “I want to meet Uddhavji,” he declared to the MLC and the watching media personnel. The MLA said, “If you do not want to set up the oil refinery in Konkan, I want to tell your chief to bring the project to Vidarbha.” A stupefied Mr. Parab stared blankly at the onlooking journalists, fished his mobile phone out of his pocket and quietly walked away.
Threatening to quit
The Shiv Sena has maintained a rather aggressive approach in the first few days of the Assembly’s ongoing session. A day after Sena leader Anil Parab threatened to resign over controversial comments made by BJP’s Solapur MLA Prashant Paricharak, Industries Minister Subhash Desai threatened to step down if the government went ahead with the Nanar refinery project. Mr. Desai said, “As many as 10 villages have submitted letters registering their opposition to the project. I wouldn’t mind tendering my resignation if the project gets under way.” Mr. Paricharak had joked during campaigning for the local polls last month that the wives of armymen were unfaithful.