The MLAs of the Shiv Sena slammed their Ministers in a party meeting on Thursday for compromising the party’s stand under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Assembly.
Tempers ran high in the meeting as MLAs voiced their anger against the Ministers and reminded them that the situation at their constituencies was turning against them. One of the MLAs said, “We protested for the farm loan waiver for three days in the Assembly. When the budget was presented, the loan waiver was not announced and we were forced to remain calm. How can we turn up in the constituency with these double standards?”
All the MLAs jointly targeted the Ministers for not speaking up and opting to succumb to pressure at the hands of the BJP. The dissatisfaction among the Sena MLAs against the BJP and particularly against their own ministers was visible in the Assembly on Thursday morning. Finance Minister Sudhir Munguntiwar wrapped up the discussion about 2017-18 budget and moved the vote on account. However, without letting the Sena MLAs speak, the vote on account was passed, leaving senior Sena MLAs such as Vijay Auti, Jayprakash Mundada fuming.
Mr. Auti criticised not only the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat of the BJP but also targeted the Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Shivthare from the Sena for not letting him speak.
As the discontent among MLAs ran high in the party meeting, Sena ministers had to hold a meeting with Assembly Speaker Haribhau Bagde about the incident. The Speaker then allowed them to speak in the afternoon.
One of the Sena MLAs, on the condition of anonymity, said the poor floor management was the reason for the party’s continued manipulation at the hands of the BJP. “What are we supposed to do? Are we against the government or supporting it? Are we supporting the budget or opposing it for giving no farm loan waiver? Uddhavji has been clearly misinformed by senior leaders. This has to stop.”
