Sena, BJP MP's storm out CM's meet

Alleging a failure by the Maharashtra government to act on inputs from central intelligence agencies of a possible terror strike in Pune, Opposition Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party MPs walked out of a meeting convened by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan to raise the state's issues in Parliament.

"The meeting began with a tribute to those killed in the Pune blast, after which senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi raised the issue of lack of coordination between Centre and state government," senior Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire told PTI.

"We told the chief minister that the state government had failed to act on alerts given by Central government and instead, it deployed huge police force for Rahul Gandhi's visit to Mumbai and to ensure release of Shah Rukh Khan's film," Khaire said.

The meeting was convened by Chavan ahead of the Parliament session to discuss developmental issues related to Maharashtra, to be raised by members in the House, including issues like the scarcity situation in the state. "The opposition members told Chavan that the government has deployed thousands of police to guard Rahul Gandhi and SRK's film but left the common man without security," Khaire, Lok Sabha member from Aurangabad, said.

Around 18 Sena-BJP members of Parliament were present at the meeting, he said. The members walked out of the meeting soon after it began, alleging the government had failed to protect the common man, he said.