The Maharashtra Government spent as much Rs98.33 lakh on the swearing-in ceremony of the Devendra Fadnavis-led Cabinet held on October 31 2014 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the prominent dignitaries present, according to a reply given to information obtained by an activist under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
In a reply given to a query raised by activist Anil Galgali under the RTI, Under Secretary to the Maharashtra SG Moghe stated that the Government spent Rs98,33,830, of which the departments of Executive Engineer (Establishments) City and Executive Engineer (Electric) approved sums of Rs67,00,660 and Rs30,60,670 respectively, while
the Additional Police Commissioner (South Region) had sanctioned 72,500 for provisioning DFMD/MHMD for security screening at entry points on rent”. “The Government has still to pay the bills as on date,” Moghe said. Galgali, who had sought similar information from the Mumbai and Maharashtra Government, said: “Mumbai BJP has failed to respond to my query about the actual expenditure incurred by the party too during the new government’s swearing ceremony”.
On October 31, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and nine ministers were sworn to office by Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at a ceremony held at the Wankhede Stadium. On December 5, the Shiv Sena later joined the new government and the council of ministers was expanded to a size of 30 at a swearing in ceremony at Vidhan Bhavan here.
Traditionally,swearing-in-ceremonies are held at Raj Bhavan. However, the BJP decided to have ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium. Asked to comment on why Wankhede Stadium was chosen as the venue for the swearing-in-ceremony, the state government provided to Galgali a copy of letter written by the Governor to the State Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya. In the letter dated October 28 last year, the Governor had asked the chief secretary to hold the October 31 ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium.
“At a time when Maharashtra is facing severe drought and also the claim of empty coffers of the state by BJP, the party went ahead and spent Rs98.33 lakh of Government funds to organise a lavish swearing in ceremony of its first state government at the Wankhede stadium,” Galgali stated.