Mumbai: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Cabinet Minister Eknath Khadse on Friday embarrassed his own government over a 1995 notification pertaining to land belonging to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC).
Mr. Khadse had resigned from the Cabinet after facing allegations of having transferred an MIDC plot in Bhosari, Pune, to his family members.
He has been asking for the information for the last two legislative sessions in an effort to prove his innocence. After his requests yielded no results, on Friday he asked why he wasn’t getting any information about the notification, as per which land acquired for the MIDC goes back to the original owner if it is not used for a stipulated number of years.
“Is that notification effective or not? I have been seeking this information since the last budget session,” he said.
Accusing the government of “intentionally concealing the information”, he said, “I have sought to know how much land has been given back to original owners. I have not been provided the documents for six months. Why is the government hiding the information? Is there anything secret about it?”
Senior NCP legislator Ajit Pawar expressed surprise that a member of the ruling party was being denied information. “Even we have demanded that information. Why has it not been provided? We can bring a privilege motion. Before the end of the monsoon session, the information should be provided to the House,” he said.
Yogesh Sagar, the presiding officer in the Lower House, directed the government to make the information available before the end of the monsoon session.
