Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde found himself in the dock on Tuesday, as the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress – demanded his resignation over the allotment of Rs 83 crore worth land meant for slum dwellers politicians and influential people others at throwaway rates.
While the Opposition forced a noisy adjournment in the State Legislative Council for the day over the alleged corruption in the land allotment scam, leaders and legislators belonging to the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress staged a demonstration demanding the chief minister’s resignation over the issue.
The State Legislature in Nagpur where the winter session is currently on-- reverberated to a vociferous clamour by the Opposition leaders for the chief minister’s resignation over the land allotment in the wake of an order passed by the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court directing the Maharashtra government to maintain a status quo on a decision taken by Shinde -- when he was the Urban Development Minister in the previous MVA government, directing the Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) to give away land acquired for housing scheme for slum dwellers to 16 private individuals for a throw-away price.
The second day of the winter session of the State legislature began on a noisy note, as the Opposition leaders, including the leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Ajit Pawar of the NCP, Congress leaders Prithviraj Chavan, Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat and Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray staged a demonstration at the entrance of the state legislature, demanding the chief minister over the land allotment issue.
The MVA leaders raised slogans like ’50 khokhe, Absolutely Ok’ (a slang for Rs 50 crore)’, accusing the Shinde government of being corrupt and demanded the CM's resignation. Expressing solidarity with the Marathi-speaking people on the Maharashtra-Karnataka border villages, they also criticised the “ineffective” manner in which the Shinde-Fadnavis government had handled the border row issue.
Interacting with the media, former chief minister and Shiv Sena (UBT) Uddhav Thackeray – who is currently in Nagpur – also rooted for the resignation of Shinde over the land allotment issue. “While staying the land allotment decision, the high court has observed that the state government has interfered in the issue when the matter was sub judice. “Shinde is the minister of the Urban Development Department (UDD) that allotted the land to private individuals. Now that the state government will have to file its affidavit in the matter before the high court, Shinde – being the minister of the UDD – will definitely have a say in the matter. “In the past whenever allegations were made, the ministers concerned had resigned from their posts. Even if the allotment had been as per law, then why did the high court stay the decision? When the high court has itself said that the minister had interfered in the matter. That being the case, the minister concerned (Shinde) has no moral right to continue in office till judgement comes out in the case”.