The Maharashtra government on Tuesday said the monsoon session of the State legislature will be held for only two days in Mumbai due to the pandemic. Opposition BJP has criticised the move, saying the government was running away from its responsibility.
The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) held its meeting on Tuesday to decide on details of the monsoon session. The BJP boycotted the meeting over the manner in which the decision to hold a truncated session was taken.
“Today, we (BJP leaders) met the ruling coalition to decide the schedule for the monsoon session of the State legislature. We were surprised to see the government is planning to hold the session for two days only. We decided to walk out of the BAC meeting in protest against the government's plan to hold the session for such a short duration,” said former CM Devendra Fadnavis.
“There is no place left for us to raise the voice of the common people. The two-day session will be too short for us to raise various issues, the plight of people, farmers, students as well as the law and order situation in the State. This government has turned the democratic processes into a circus,” he claimed.
Earlier, the State government said restrictions will be in place for MLAs and ministers to ensure all COVID-19 guidelines are followed.
“Only one officer can accompany the MLAs or ministers. Rest of the staff will have to remain outside,” the government said. All those attending the session will have to undergo RT-PCR test. The decision to hold the session for two days was taken considering the present situation of COVID-19 and the possibility of third wave, it said.
Responding to a query on Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik's letter urging Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray to join hands with the BJP again, Mr Fadnavis said it was an internal matter of the Sena. “The BJP has nothing to do with it. Our party is not interested in bringing down this government. This three-party government will fall under its internal burden,” he claimed.
