Economic crisis looms over Maha under MahaYuti, warns Supriya Sule

Mumbai, Oct 2 (IANS)  Maharashtra is facing an economic crisis under the ruling MahaYuti government thanks to imprudent fiscal management, warned Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule on Wednesday. 

In a sharp attack on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, Sule claimed that several leaders, including state NCP (SP) President Jayant Patil and the state Finance Department, have red-flagged the situation on many occasions, but the government is ignoring them.

She pointed out that for the past several months, Patil, a former finance minister, has been warning about the economic crisis that is hovering over the state.

He had even raised the issue in the Maharashtra Legislature, but nobody paid heed, and even the state Finance Department kept raising objections, but the government refused to heed it, added the NCP (SP) MP from Baramati.

“The state’s economy is in deep trouble… Even Bharatiya Janata Party’s Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and MahaYuti supporters like Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Raj Thackeray, besides experts and economists are voicing their concerns frequently. If those within the government are sounding alarm signals, it is clear we are having a big problem in our hands,” asserted Sule.

Both Gadkari and Raj Thackeray, besides other Opposition leaders of Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders, have expressed reservations over various issues, including the much-touted ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme of the MahaYuti regime.

Citing data, she said that the state’s fiscal deficit has soared to RS 199,125.87 crore with the revenue deficits surpassing the 3 per cent mark – though the MahaYuti has denied the allegations of the Opposition parties.

“Despite such a grave situation, the government keeps granting approvals for huge expenditures, disregarding warnings from the Finance Department,” said Sule.

She also targeted the government for biased financial practices, making selective allocation of states’ resources based on political support and the Opposition parties are starved of funds, as in the case of sugar mills or for cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur and others, including the neglect of her constituencies.

Referring to the strong track records of the past non-BJP governments, Sule said that when Patil was the Finance Minister, the state was in fiscal surplus – taking a swipe at her cousin and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who handles the Finance portfolio in the state government.

Moreover, from the times of the late Y. B. Chavan onwards till recently, Maharashtra enjoyed an enviable record of economic excellence for decades, but under the current MahaYuti, the state is in the throes of an economic calamity.