Mumbai: In what could turn out to be yet another trigger for a face-off between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the monsoon session of the Assembly does not have to be held in Nagpur.
The BJP has been pushing the idea of holding the monsoon session in Vidarbha (Nagpur). A sub-committee comprising three ministers, two from the BJP and one from the Sena, was formed to discuss the issue and take a final call. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat had announced in the recently-concluded budget session that the State cabinet has in principle approved the idea of holding the monsoon session in Nagpur. The committee is headed by Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Mr. Bapat and Industries Minister Subhash Desai from the Sena.
Opposition parties too had said the decision to hold the three-week monsoon session stands with the State government and they will have no problem if it is held in Nagpur. However, the cracks are visible within the ruling alliance over the issue.
Addresing the press at Aurangabad on Thursday, Mr. Thackeray said, “There is no need to take the monsoon session to Nagpur. The government should instead focus on taking people-friendly decisions.” The Sena chief’s statement will only add to the simmering tensions between the parties, both of whom spare no opportunity to target each other, despite sharing power in the State as well as at the Centre.
According to government sources, the BJP wants to consolidate its base by holding a three-week monsoon session in Nagpur where a number of pro-Vidarbha announcements are likely to be made. “Having a session in Nagpur will help the BJP create an atmosphere where they can claim to be the messiah of Vidarbha, prior to the general elections,” said a source in the BJP. While BJP sources claim the Sena will come around, Sena leaders are vocal about going it alone in any future elections. In the recently-held budget session too, the Sena often opposed government decisions to the extent of disrupting legislative proceedings.
