Dissent in the house? Mahayuti netas take on govt over key policies

Unexpectedly, treasury bench members are indeed rocking, as the presence of opposition members is not felt seriously. Shiv Sena's Sanjay Shirsat and Baburao Kohalikar, NCP's Chhagan Bhujbal, and BJP's Sudhir Mungantiwar, Atul Bhatkhalkar and Ameet Satam have taken the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti govt by surprise.
At a juncture when finance minister Ajit Pawar and women and child welfare minister Aditi Tatkare were reluctant to speak, Shirsat was the first cabinet member to come out openly, saying Rs 7,000 crore from the social justice department and Rs 3,000 crore from the tribal development have been diverted for the Ladki Bahin scheme and that it was illegal to divert funds in such a manner.
Bhatkhalkar and Satam, both elected from Mumbai, raised the issue of poor quality of roads. They said while around Rs 21,000 crore was spent on concretisation of roads in the recent past, the quality of roads in the financial centre is still dismal. Following their outcry over poor BMC roads, Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who, too, has been elected from Mumbai, said a special meeting would be convened in his chamber in the presence of urban development minister Eknath Shinde to take stock of the situation.
Unhappy over his exclusion from the cabinet, BJP veteran Sudhir Mungantiwar, too, is making his presence felt in the House. He did not leave a single opportunity to take govt to task.
Firebrand NCP leader Bhujbal also came down heavily on govt on key policy issues.
More shocking were the comments of Hingoli Sena legislator Baburao Kohalikar, who said major contracts in the water resources department have been given at the instance of a senior BJP leader.
It looks like key leaders from the opposition are missing in action; they appear to be hobnobbing with senior cabinet members for constituency work.
Mumbai police vindicated
CBI's closure report in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death has vindicated the stand taken by Mumbai police. Rajput was found dead at his Bandra residence on June 14, 2020. Following mounting pressure, the probe was entrusted to CBI, which roped in AIIMS's forensic team. AIIMS dismissed the murder theory.
Senior NCP leader and then home minister Anil Deshmukh has lauded Mumbai police, saying it was wrong to entrust the probe to CBI. He said when Mumbai police took over the probe, it was maintained that it was a case of suicide and there was no murder. Following a complaint lodged by Rajput's father in Patna, a separate offence was registered. For political reasons ahead of the Bihar elections, the probe was entrusted to CBI.