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Stormy agenda faces Monday's Maharashtra assembly session

Spiralling prices of essential commodities, deteriorating law and order situation, the controversy over the defection of seven independent MLAs to the Congress and the brewing rebellion within the Shiv Sena are among the contentious issues which will come up during the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature beginning in Nagpur from Monday. All this is expected to generate enough political heat while allowing the biting cold of Nagpur to slip by unnoticed.

The morale of the Congress is high after its stupendous victory in the just-concluded assembly elections in Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. The state unit leaders have time and again emphasised that the party did not want to destabilise the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance government. The party's confidence has further soared with feelers from independent MLAs about their desire to re-join the party.

The opposition has geared itself up to take on the fragile alliance government for its alleged failure on all fronts and the poor financial condition of the state. The ruling alliance, on the other hand, has stated that it would allow healthy debates on any issue in both houses of the state legislature.

The Congress party, including leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar, has blamed Chief Minister Manohar Joshi for the latest controversy involving the petition filed by Sena MLA Chandrakant Padwal before Speaker Datta Nalawade, that seven independent MLAs -- Rajendra Shingne, Rajvardhan Kadambande, Mohanrao Gudge, Ajitrao Ghorpade, K C Padvi, Madanrao Pisal and Devrao Radke -- be disqualified from the assembly membership for violation of the Anti-Defection Act.

Padwal has also attested documents like the primary and active membership forms filed by the seven legislators and a letter from MPCC general secretary Gurunath Kulkarni stating that the seven independents have been admitted into the party fold.

The Congress leaders allege that the documents are forged and that giving letters that a person had been admitted into the party was not the Congress practice. Both leader of opposition in the state assembly Madhukar Pichad and Gurunath Kulkarni have urged the speaker to make them the third party in the inquiry. So far, the speaker has issued summons to the legislators. But, their lawyers have given an application pleading that they be allowed to inspect the original documents. The speaker, however, turned down their plea and asked them to file their reply by Friday or Saturday. The legislators have submitted their reply on Thursday.

Congress sources say Joshi wants to pressurise the independents with the fear of disqualification so that they continue to support the alliance government. They, as well as the seven legislators maintain that none of the independents has joined the Congress.

The issue is likely to figure in the winter session of the house, where the Congress will question Joshi on the authenticity of the documents. Political observers doubt whether the seven legislators will be allowed to attend the proceedings of the house.

Congress sources say that the issue will only boomerang on the chief minister.

It was also doubtful whether the two ordinances approved by the state government -- Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime and Investors Rights Protection -- would be introduced in the ensuing session. The President has yet to grant his approval for the MCOC.

The Congress says the new law, if enacted, will have far-reaching effects as it empowers the state government with enormous powers like death sentence and life imprisonment, and all states would demand such powers which could lead to autonomy. However, Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Gopinath Munde defends the proposed legislation, saying that it was not a detention law like TADA but deals firmly with only hardcore criminals.

The opposition will also take the government to task over various issues like delay and inadequate financial assistance by the state government to the next of kin of those who lost their lives and suffered loss to their property due to heavy rains, and farmers who committed suicide due to crop losses.

The financial position of the Krishna Valley Development Corporation and its pending works, would also come up for discussion. The project aims at canalising the Krishna waters by 2000 AD so as to provide drinking water to the rural areas and bring most of the land under irrigation.

The opposition would also question the government on the panic situation in Bombay and Thane over the spurt in extortion and killings by the underworld and also the deteriorating law and order situation in the state, Congress sources said.

The failure of the alliance government's ambitious project -- Shivshahi Punarvasan Prakalp -- to provide 200,000 houses to slum dwellers in Bombay and the illegal dereservation of plots would also be among the issues to come up before the house.

Congress leaders say though the state government has promised to discuss the development of Vidharba, the opposition will criticise the government on the floor of the house for its delay in purchase of cotton and the losses faced by farmers in this regard, atrocities on dalit colonies in the recent months, failure of the government to implement adivasi welfare schemes and rising incidents of child deaths due to malnutrition.

The economic situation of the state will be among the other important issues raised and will also include the poor state of the Butibori Industrial Estate, the spiralling rise in prices of vegetables, onions, oil and their shortage in the market, the unjust hike in the rates of petrol, diesel, electricity, state transport bus fares and note books, corruption in the implementation of schemes of the state government would also be brought up in the both the houses.

Among the other issues are shortage of electricity and irregularities in sanctioning new power projects, revision of wages of anganwadi workers, the condition of ashram schools and schools for the disabled due to lack of government grants, the problems of sugarcane cutters and the adverse effect on sugar factories.

A no-confidence motion against the assembly speaker is also likely to come up during the session. The total strength of the house is 289, and the party-wise position is Congress 78, Shiv Sena 75, BJP 66, Janata Dal 10, PWP 6, CPI-M 3, Samajwadi Party 4, Maharashtra Vikas Congress and Nagvidarbha Andolan Samiti one each, independents 44 and nominated one.

The survival of the three-and-a-half-year-old Sena-BJP alliance after the session is under doubt, political observers say. Though many dismiss the possibility as mere speculation, one cannot ignore the brewing rebellion within the Sena ranks with rebel former minister Ganesh Naik and ministers of state Gulabrao Gawande and Suresh Nawale announcing the formation of a new party during the winter session.

The Congress claims that the independents who are in touch with the party do not want to bring down the government or seek tickets from the Congress but they are being time and again humiliated by the alliance partners. The party leaders say the Congress is not interested in bringing down the government either, but feel that the time is ripe for fresh polls in the state.

UNI

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