Maharashtra's Political Battle: Why Opposition Slams Election Rush Amid Farmer Crisis

The Shiv Sena(UBT in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' claimed that the state government is known for loud talk, but "when it comes to implementation, it goes into a coma".

The Saamana editorial said the rulers suddenly became dynamic and aggressive and issued a record 220 government resolutions, and the cabinet took 21 decisions on Tuesday ahead of the announcement of the schedule for the elections to the nagar parishads and nagar panchayats by the SEC.

It said that before the announcement of the code of conduct, the state government suddenly became active and put the administration on high gear. But the government has not been proactive in providing timely financial assistance to 68 lakh farmers devastated by heavy rain, so that their Diwali would be bright.

“The final panchanamas (assessment of damage) have been completed in only a few of the 33 districts; this is their agility! Even though all the opposition parties have unanimously conducted a public post-mortem of the faulty voter lists, the ruling alliance is slow to make any improvements by rectifying errors. On the contrary, the government and the SEC have taken an 'aggressive' decision to impose local body elections on the people, ignoring the demands of the opposition,” it said.

“The ruling alliance took decisions about transfers and promotions. Since the elections are for local self-government bodies, funds worth crores of rupees were distributed to the municipal corporations, nagar parishads and nagar panchayats. Funds have also been given to provide specific civic facilities to urban local self-government bodies. The government has also given approval to the various corporations established for the development of different communities to implement several schemes. The rulers remembered the Baliraja (farmers) who were waiting for the government's financial assistance for the past month, and a few thousand crores of rupees were given for agriculture-related schemes. The state government is not being run for the people, but for its own political gain," claimed the Thackeray camp in its mouthpiece.

According to the editorial, the elections to the local bodies were announced after three and a half years. “However, the question is, if the SEC had not announced the schedule of these elections on Tuesday, would the rulers have remembered the farmers and various sections of society so quickly? Would the ruling alliance have realised that the flood-affected farmers need government help to purchase seeds? These decisions were taken in a rush to gain political dominance in 246 Nagar Parishads and 42 Nagar Panchayats. They remembered everyone from farmers to government contractors,” said the editorial.

Referring to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ warning to contractors to complete infrastructure development projects on time, the Thackeray camp questioned the timing of the ultimatum. “Why are the works not completed on time instead of making this empty boasting? Who is responsible for that? Why is the government unable to clear the arrears owed to the contractors for the work they have completed? Why have so many contractors committed suicide? The Chief Minister should find answers to these questions," the editorial said.

- IANS