Big disparity in funds allocation causing heartburn

At the heart of this complaint is the ₹20 crore sanctioned to each of the 40 Shinde faction MLAs by the Urban Development department

Mumbai The Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs are reportedly upset over the release of funds by the state government for their constituencies. Their grouse, which they have shared with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, is that chief minister Eknath Shinde is privileging MLAs from his camp when it comes to fund allocation.

A senior BJP MLA told Hindustan Times that they had complained about this to Fadnavis and he advocated patience and pointed out the need for political expediency (Bhushan Koyande)

At the heart of this complaint is the ₹20 crore sanctioned to each of the 40 Shinde faction MLAs by the Urban Development department and the ₹5 crore each allocated by the Rural Development department. In contrast, the BJP MLAs and those of the Opposition got only ₹1 crore each for a year. These allocations were made in the 40 days before cabinet expansion when CM Shinde held almost all the portfolios with himself.

One of the reasons the Shinde camp MLAs had given for pulling down the MVA government was the partiality shown by then deputy minister Ajit Pawar in allocation of funds to NCP MLAs over Shiv Sena MLAs. It was therefore crucial for Eknath Shinde to demonstrate to the men with him that he could take care of funds for their constituencies.

The Rural Development department has a provision of more than ₹1200 crore for development works at village level including construction of roads, schools, crematoriums, community halls among others. The funds are released through local bodies with the approval from the MLAs of the constituency. Similarly, the MLAs from semi urban areas get the UDD funds, which is again important as the nagar panchayats or nagar parishads in their constituencies are not financially sound like the municipal corporations in big cities. “These funds help MLAs complete projects in their constituencies and keep party workers happy as the works are mostly implemented through their companies that take contracts. Since there is no cap on the allotment of the contract up to ₹10 lakh, the MLAs can easily favour the people close to them. The ruling party MLAs get the funds at least five times more than the legislators from opposition. During MVA too, ruling parties used to get ₹5 crore, while allotment to the opposition MLAs would be ₹1 crore,” said a bureaucrat from the Rural Development department.

Besides these allotments, the MLAs and MPs who have sided with Shinde also got major projects sanctioned in their constituencies. Agriculture minister Abdul Sattar’s spinning mill which is controlled by his son Samir was given ₹15.17 crore in July as state government capital. Rebel MLA Pratap Sarnaik was allotted more than ₹2.5 crore as development funds for his constituency in Thane.

However, when specifically asked about the discontent within the BJP ranks about funds allocation, BJP state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “There are no differences between us. This is propaganda by the opposition. In fact, even MLAs from the opposition are happy and believe that the Shinde-Fadnavis government will do justice with them too as far as development issues are concerned.”