Budget session: BJP may corner govt over farm distress, crime

The BJP is likely to corner the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government over issues like farm distress, a crime against women, alleged differences among the ruling allies over the transfer of the Elgar Parishad case probe to the NIA, during the Budget session of the state legislature that commences on February 24. The budget session of the state legislature, which generally lasts six weeks, could be around four weeks this time as it is likely to end on March 20. The Uddhav Thackeray-led government will present its maiden budget on March 6. Thackeray and his deputy Ajit Pawar, who is the state Finance Minister, have been holding a series of pre-budget meetings over the last few days.

Opposition BJP led by Devendra Fadnavis is likely to corner the three-party dispensation, especially the Shiv Sena, over a host of issues including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR), farm loan waiver and spurt in incidents of atrocities against women, political observers said. The government had announced Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Farmer Loan Waiver Scheme during the winter session of the legislature in Nagpur, under which loan of up to Rs two lakh taken between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2019 and which has not been repaid till September 30, 2019, will be eligible for waiver. However, the BJP says that the farmers were yet to get the benefit of the scheme.

The government has said that the money will be transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries from next week. The BJP has also demanded that farmers who have been affected by unseasonal rains, be provided Rs 25,000 per hectare. A senior minister said if Governor B S Koshyari signs by February 24 the cabinet decision of increasing the limit of contingency fund by Rs 10,000 crore, the loan waiver amount will be directly credited to the bank accounts of about 19 crore farmers, otherwise, the implementation will be delayed. About 33 lakh farmers are expected to benefit from this decision. To avail this scheme, Aadhaar card of farmers need to be linked to their bank accounts. The government is expected to introduce a new loan waiver scheme for farmers having more than Rs two lakh loan and another one for farmers who regularly pay their loan dues. Political observers said the BJP is likely to take on the government over the cases of violence against women, including the recent incident in which a woman lecturer died a few days after being set ablaze by a stalker at Hinganghat in Wardha district. The state government is studying the Disha Act of Andhra Pradesh, which provides for completion of trial within 21 days with capital punishment to the guilty. Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said the government plans to introduce similar legislation during the budget session. The BJP may also target the Shiv Sena over its stand on the CAA.

The Sena had supported the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha but staged a walkout when it was discussed in the Rajya Sabha. Uddhav Thackeray has said there was no need to fear the CAA, but asserted that his government will not allow the proposed NRC to be implemented as it would "impact people of all religions". However, Congress and NCP, which are part of the MVA government, have staunchly opposed CAA, NRC, and NPR. The BJP is also planning to corner the government over the discordant voices among the ruling allies on the transfer of the Elgar Parishad case probe to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the political observers said.

The Centre had last month transferred the probe in the case from the Pune Police to the NIA, a move then criticized by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state. However, the government had later changed its stand and said that it had no objection to the NIA taking over the probe into the case, in which human rights activists have been arrested for their alleged Maoist links. Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had said the chief minister has overruled him on the matter. The Shiv Sena-led government has stopped the Jalyukt Shivar, a flagship scheme of the Fadnavis government, ordered an inquiry into the tree plantation drive under which the previous dispensation claimed to have planted 50 crore trees. The government has also decided to scrap the "Mahapariksha" portal following complaints about irregularities in the recruitment process. The government is also reportedly not keen on implementing the big-ticket bullet train and hyperloop projects.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)