MVA releases ‘chargesheet against traitors’, lists alleged scams of Mahayuti

MVA leaders released a chargesheet against the ruling alliance, citing scams and mismanagement, while denying Haryana poll results will impact elections

MUMBAI: The three constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Sunday jointly released a ‘Panchnama of Gaddars’ (Chargesheet against Traitors) which purported to expose the scams and acts of misappropriation by the ruling alliance. The MVA also declared that the Haryana assembly election results, in which the BJP won, would have no bearing on the Maharashtra polls.

Maha Vikas Aghadi released the Gadharancha Pancnama and booklet during the joint press conference at Taj Land Ends Hotel in Mumba. (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

NCP founder Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole jointly held a press briefing to release the panchnama. The MVA combine’s report card of the Mahayuti government has listed various alleged scams, including the Dharavi redevelopment scam of ₹1 lakh crore, the MMRDA tender scam of ₹16,000 crore and the Jalyukt Shivar scam worth ₹10,000 crore.

The report card also details the government’s alleged rate card: ₹50 crore to buy an MLA, ₹1 crore to purchase a corporator and a bribe of ₹1 crore to transfer officers to plum postings among others. It also mentions the runaway price hike over the last ten years of BJP rule. The MVA leaders said they would expose the Mahayuti government, which had become a “colony of slaves of Gujarat” during the assembly election campaign.

Sharad Pawar said that the incumbent government needed to be kicked out, as it had ruined the “highly respected” state bureaucracy, making Maharashtra pay the price for it. Thackeray reiterated that the Mahayuti had turned Maharashtra into a “colony of Gujarat”. “But the MVA will not allow BJP leaders to take over the state of Shivaji, Shahu, Phule and Ambedkar,” he said. “This government must be defeated in the upcoming assembly elections.”

The opposition also claimed that there would be no repeat of the Haryana poll results in Maharashtra. “The people in Maharashtra are eager to change the current dispensation, and we have felt this during our tours all over the state,” said Pawar. “Even during the Lok Sabha election, nobody believed that we would win 31 seats but the sentiment was in the air. It will be repeated in the assembly polls; I have no doubt about it.”

While speaking about the Haryana results, Thackeray said that the debacles of the BJP should also be taken into account. “Despite the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir, the BJP lost the assembly polls very badly there,” he said. “Even in Haryana, the Congress is behind the BJP just by 0.60% of the vote share but this helped the BJP win 30 seats more than the Congress.”

When asked the name of the MVA’s CM candidate, Thackeray said the question should first be posed to the ruling alliance. “Why have they not announced their name for the post?” he asked. “The BJP has made a traitor the head of the state. We have lots of faces but the fight is MVA versus Mahayuti. If they announce a name, we will also announce ours.” Patole added that the MVA’s priority was to get elected to power, and the post of CM was secondary for its constituents.

Speaking about the Ladki Bahin scheme, Pawar said there was no allocation for it in the budget announced by the government, and it was only meant for catching votes in this election. “We are not against the scheme, and if there is a sufficient provision for it, there will be no problem in continuing it,” he said. “We will not cheat our ‘bahins’ (sisters) when elected to power.”

BOX

HEAD: Rahul calls for meet to review poll prep

After the Congress defeat in the Haryana assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi has convened a review meeting in Delhi to take stock of poll preparations in Maharashtra. Congress leaders from Maharashtra, including state chief Nana Patole and senior leaders Balasaheb Thorat, Varsha Gaikwad, Vijay Wadettiwar and Prithviraj Chavan will attend the meeting.

According to Congress leaders in the state, Gandhi will take stock to ensure that the mistakes in Haryana are not repeated in Maharashtra. “We had infighting within the state unit and Kumari Selja was sidelined which cost us dear,” said a senior leader. “Secondly, caste politics played a key role there and is likely to do so in Maharashtra as well. Apart from this, Gandhi will also discuss the proposed party manifesto for the assembly polls.”

Meanwhile, in another blow to the BJP, its former MLA Charan Waghmare on Sunday joined the Sharad Pawar-led NCP. He is expected to be pitted against the Ajit Pawar-led NCP’s sitting MLA Raju Karemore. Waghmare was expelled from the BJP last year, after which he joined the Bharat Rastra Samiti.