Oppn vexed by Ajit giving chunk of ₹41,243 cr budget to his MLAs

Deputy speaker of the Assembly Narhari Zirwal has been allotted over ₹100 crore for his constituency Dindori, while Saroj Ahire, who was a fence-sitter till last week and then decided to align with Ajit Pawar, has been given ₹40 crore. Dr Kiran Lahamate, the first-time MLA from Akole in Ahmednagar bagged ₹96 crore for his constituency

MUMBAI: Three weeks after he split up the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and was sworn in as the deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar allocated funds – from a ₹41, 243 crore purse of supplementary budget -- for constituencies led by MLAs from his faction, on Monday. The indignant opposition parties -- Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) – look upon the massive allotments as the recently sworn in finance minister’s attempt to keep his flock together.

Senior Congress legislator Balasaheb Thorat alleged that “the allocation was also aimed to lure MLAs from other parties”. “MLAs from the ruling camp who cannot be made ministers have been given significant funds so that they are placated. (HT)

This is the second highest budgetary demand in the recent past, after ₹52,328 crore was tabled in the last winter session by deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Deputy speaker of the Assembly Narhari Zirwal has been allotted over ₹100 crore for his constituency Dindori, while Saroj Ahire, who was a fence-sitter till last week and then decided to align with Ajit Pawar, has been given ₹40 crore. Dr Kiran Lahamate, the first-time MLA from Akole in Ahmednagar bagged ₹96 crore for his constituency.

The funds are allocated through departments such as rural and urban development, public works department and water resources for projects in the MLAs’ respective constituencies. They are distributed from the development funds of ₹1.70 lakh crore, earmarked in annual budget of the state.

Interestingly, some MLAs from opposition parties have also benefitted from the liberal fund allocation -- Bharat Gogawale, a prominent MLA of Shiv Sena received ₹150 crore to carry out development work in his constituency Mahad, while Congress MLA Ashok Chavan and NCP’s Sharad Pawar faction MLA Rohit Pawar also bagged sizeable funds.

“Gogawale was upset and threw a tantrum when the Ajit Pawar camp joined the government as it killed his opportunity to become the guardian minister of Raigad. The generous fund is an attempt to pacify him,” said a BJP leader.

Senior Congress legislator Balasaheb Thorat alleged that “the allocation was also aimed to lure MLAs from other parties”. “MLAs from the ruling camp who cannot be made ministers have been given significant funds so that they are placated. Over 65% of the funding from the supplementary demands have been showered on 100 (of 207) ruling party MLAs. Ironically, 105 BJP MLAs have received peanuts, in comparison. Some MLAs have got the funds ranging between ₹392 crore to ₹742 crore. In one district (Ahmednagar) one constituency has got ₹735 crore while rest of the district (with five more constituencies) have been given just ₹215 crore,” Thorat said in the Assembly, warning the government that he will move court if the imbalance is not weeded out. He did not disclose names of MLAs who received the large sums.

Thorat observed that the Shinde government tabling supplementary demands worth ₹1.20 lakh crore, within a year of coming to power was a “sign of fiscal indiscipline, as the supplementary demands should not exceed 10% of the budget size”. The party’s MLC Bhai Jagtap added, “Not giving enough money to develop areas led by opposition members is unfair.”

Leader of opposition in legislative council from Sena (UBT) Ambadas Danve said, “This is taxpayers’ money and every part of the state has the right to develop. The government should disclose the details of fund allocation and there should be policy for equitable distribution.”

An official from the finance department said that manner in which funds are allocated has “worsened since the splits in two major parties”. He said, “CM Shinde had ensured his MLAs received huge allocations in the last monsoon and winter sessions. The BJP MLAs in comparison were given little, which has left them fuming. The impartiality in funds allocation has been a tradition among ruling parties, but the gap has widened manifold now.”

In response to the censure, DCM Devendra Fadnavis pointed out how during 2.5 years of MVA rule, the opposition members (BJP legislators) did not get development funds from Thackeray government. Fadnavis said, “We will look into the issue and constituencies represented by opposition members will also get funds for development work.”