Parties in blame game over Maharashtra drought

Fadnavis rules out holding special session of legislature and instead assures of relief measures, says Sanjay Jog

Even as around 8,000 villages are hit by drought, the ruling and opposition parties in Maharashtra are engaged in a blame game. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance has criticised the inaction of the previous government, led by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party for failure in boosting irrigation potential and stepping up water conservation.

On the other hand, the Congress and the NCP, now in opposition, have blamed the BJP-led government for doing little for drought-hit villages.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on a three-day visit in some of the drought-hit villages last week, rejected the opposition's demand for holding a special session of the state legislature, saying the issue cannot be politicised.

The Congress, which met Governor Vidyasagar Rao, insisted on a special session. It also demanded an all-party meeting to discuss relief and rehabilitation.

According to Fadnavis, drought is confined to 8,000 villages, compared with 24,000 villages last year. He held the Congress-NCP government responsible for “faulty water allocation policies” that had led to the scarcity of water. He alleged the previous regime diverted water meant for the Marathwada region to other regions which did not face scarcity of water.

NCP chief and former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said his party would organise a ‘jail bharao’ agitation in Marathwada and other drought-hit regions from September 14 to expose the government's lack of seriousness in handling the situation. He warned the state might face law and order issues after December, and appealed to the government to open fodder camps, waive student fees, and write off loans.

Former chief minister and Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Chavan said his party was not interested in gaining any political mileage from the present crisis, but insisted that the government allocate more funds on relief and rehabilitation.

“The Congress party wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the drought-hit regions of the state and provide central assistance,”' he told Business Standard.

Pawar, who also visited some of the drought-hit villages, also said he has sought the PM's appointment for an urgent intervention by the central government as the state's efforts might not be sufficient to handle the present crisis. He claimed the major challenge was to save livestock in the drought-hit villages as the fodder situation became grim.

The BJP's ruling ally Shiv Sena has decided to aggressively implement the Shiv Jal Kranti Yojana (water revolution scheme) in the drought-hit villages. This is a parallel to the state government's water conservation scheme or Jalyukta Shivar already being undertaken in these villages. Besides, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray will visit some of the drought-hit villages on September 11 and 12.

He has asked the party ministers and district leaders to step up relief work instead of conducting ‘drought tourism’.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray criticised leaders of both the BJP-Sena alliance and Congress-NCP for visiting drought-affected villages, saying the priority should be in providing relief urgently.