Maharashtra govt ripe for plucking, says Pawar

The Congress party had ignored the shortcomings of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, to give it a chance to prove itself. But Maharashtra has fared badly on every front and the deteriorating law and order situation indicated "the government's mangoes were ripe for plucking", said senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Sharad Pawar at a press conference in Kolhapur.

Financially, Maharashtra was in a mess, but it was still spending millions on the security for criminals while the law and order situation was deteriorating, said Pawar. A few influential people had also taken over the education system, the MP and former state chief minister claimed.

"Had we tried toppling the government at the beginning of their tenure, they would have criticised us for not allowing them to blossom after 40 years rule of Congress rule in the state. But Maharashtra's reputation as one of the most prosperous and advanced states in India is on the decline," Pawar said, adding that the Congress was considering taking action soon.

Pawar said he would tour Maharashtra for three months after Diwali, to expose the government's failure in every field and to rejuvenate the Congress. He said he intended to inspire the younger members of the party who had lost confidence after the party's defeat in the last assembly election. The tour is to begin at Kolhapur's Bindu Chowk.

He attacked Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, claiming he expressed views uncalled for. Thackeray had claimed three "big fish" were involved in the Gulshan Kumar murder when the Bombay police were preparing to arrest composer Nadeem. Pawar said arresting criminals was the job of the police. It was most unfortunate that Thackeray was seeking cheap publicity, making such sensational disclosures at regular intervals.

Pawar also claimed that the state government was managing finances badly. There were deposits worth Rs 300 billion in co-operative banks in the state. All this was lying idle in the state coffers because the current government lacked the brains to employ these funds productively, he said, while inaugurating the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank's 'pay-off' programme started by the bank's Pune division.

Instead of trying to increase funds, the state administration was in the process of imposing section 78 of the co-operative sector regulations and declaring a few sugar mills sick. He said the state was just attacking those sugar mills opposed to the government. Which, he said, wasn't a very wise way of functioning.

Compiled by Prasanna D Zore from the Marathi media