BJP to come up with black paper to counter state govt’s claims

Terming the tabling of the white paper on irrigation by the state government a sham, the Opposition parties have threatened to disrupt the upcoming session of the legislature over the issue.

Terming the tabling of the white paper on irrigation by the state government a sham, the Opposition parties have threatened to disrupt the upcoming session of the legislature over the issue.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants the special investigation team (SIT) to carry out a probe and bring out a black paper to counter the claims made by the government in the report. According to them, the tabled paper is superficial and does not talk of financial flaws and lop-sided policy decisions, which is a major cause for concern.

“If the government does not order an SIT probe, we will not let the legislature function. The government has accounted for Rs 42,000 crore as the cost incurred on irrigation projects in 10 years, when the actuals are around Rs 89,896 crore,” said Vinod Tawde, leader of the Opposition in the council.

Eknath Khadse, Opposition leader in the Assembly, claimed that the Congress is covering up for its ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

“The so-called clean man chief minister Prithviraj Chavan is now going overboard and shielding the NCP. The numbers in the report are being juggled to show that the claims made in the economic survey of having achieved only 0.1% irrigation growth in 10 years is wrong,” he said.

He said that BJP is working on a black paper on irrigation, which they plan to bring out in the next five days. “We will ensure that the Assembly does not function smoothly unless the government takes some action against Ajit Pawar and Sunil Tatkare,” Khadse said.

Shiv Sena legislator Neelam Gorhe alleged that this was a tactic to project a clean image of their party in the 2014 elections.