Amid CM’s absence, Maharashtra session begins on a stormy note

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s absence in public life after his spinal surgery has led to the BJP asking him, in a not so subtle way, that he should relinquish his responsibilities to someone else in the party. Maharashtra’s five-day winter session began on Wednesday and with Thackeray not being present on the first day, the BJP started taking potshots at the chief minister.

State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil on Wednesday said that if the chief minister was unwell then he could hand over the charge to his son Aaditya Thackeray or someone else in the family (read Rashmi Thackeray).

“The people of the state have not seen the chief minister for the last 45 days. He should hand over the charge to someone else if he is not well. If he doesn’t trust someone from the Congress or NCP that they would not give back the charge to him (after he recovers), then he could hand it over to Aaditya or someone he trusts,” Patil said.

He said the chief minister was not present at the customary tea party organised before the assembly session nor was he present for the press conference before the assembly session. “He should not insist on retaining the charge and rest before resuming duties,” Patil told reporters outside the state assembly. The BJP has been asking for the chief minister to hand over the charge to deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar but others, like BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar, said Ajit Pawar was not ‘trustworthy’ enough.

Uddhav was discharged from hospital on December 3 after undergoing a spinal surgery. He had been recuperating in hospital for 22 days. Patil’s remark angered the Shiv Sena with Mumbai Mayor Kishore Pednekar from the Sena asking the BJP to make Amruta Fadnavis, wife of Devendra Fadnavis, as the opposition leader.

The MVA, on its part, claimed that the chief minister would attend the session and that there was nothing wrong with his health. State Congress Chief Nana Patole told reporters that the chief minister was well and would hold cabinet meetings and attend the assembly session.

“The prime minister also is not seen most of the time during parliamentary proceedings. He should also hand over the charge to someone else then,” Patole said.

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Amid CM’s absence, Maharashtra session begins on a stormy note