The Opposition parties on Sunday boycotted the customary tea party hosted by Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on the eve of the fortnight-long monsoon session of the State legislature.
“Mumbai has been continuously facing bomb blasts. But the government does not seem to take them seriously. As the blast victims suffer, we cannot have tea with the Chief Minister,” Leader of the Opposition Eknath Khadse told journalists here.
The Opposition parties held a meeting at his residence and decided the issues to be raised in the House.
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“It feels like the security of the State is in jeopardy. It has been 12 days after the blast, but the government has not nabbed the culprits. It is intelligence failure,” he said.
Mr. Khadse said that after the terror attack on November 26, 2008, many recommendations were given to the government by various organisations. “The Ram Pradhan committee report has been kept aside by the government. It has not acted on the recommendations given by the committee and other organisations.” He said the Opposition parties would take the government to task on issues such as the deterioration in law and order, houses for mill workers, the Jaitapur project, agriculture problems, issues in education, and the skewed sex ratio.
He said he would request the government to dedicate an entire day for discussion on the declining sex ratio.
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Talking about the law and order situation, he said: “Three gang-rapes have happened in the State in the past 15 days. The number of crimes against women is increasing. Dacoities and house-breaking cases have increased. The rate of detection has gone down. The common person feels insecure. The government has been a failure on all fronts.”
Asked if the Opposition would demand the resignation of the Home Minister for this, he said the entire government should resign, not just one Minister.
He said the Mumbai mill workers' issue had not been addressed for long and it was time the government provided houses for them.
“Mumbai was once known for its mills. The government had given land on lease for them. Now when they are being redeveloped, one-third of the land should be given for the construction of houses for the workers.”
He said the seeds distributed by the government agency Mahabeej have turned out to be bogus.
“The farmers are restless. Except in the Konkan [coastal Maharashtra], the monsoon arrived late in the State. To add to this, the seeds failed. Farmers' suicides too haven't stopped.”