Ever since the Uddhav Thackeray led government Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) came into power, it has either reversed or stayed several project like the latest Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) or other previous projects like Bullet train, Jalyukt Shivar, Aarey metro car shed, transfer of salary account of the Police department from the Axis Bank to a public sector bank among others that were introduced by the previous BJP-led government.
Now, the MVA government is planning to bring out a resolution on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in the state assembly. With this, Maharashtra will become the third state after Kerala and Punjab to request withdrawal of CAA from the country.
Let us look into the projects initiated by the earlier government:
Jalyukt Shivar
The Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan was started in December 2014 by the Fadnavis government to make 5,000 villages completely drought-free. The project involved deepening and widening of streams construction of cement and earthern stop dam, work on nullahs and digging of farm ponds. However, the MVA government put a stop on this project by not releasing funds for Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Ahmednagar districts.
Aarey Metro Car Shed
After taking oath as CM of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray on November 29 announced a stay to construction of metro crashed in Aarey Colony. This project was introduced by the BJP while the Mumbai civic body’s tree authority granted permission to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) to cut down over 2,700 trees, often referred to as ‘city’s lungs’, in order to build a car shed for the Metro. Environmental activists and citizen groups protested against the felling of trees in Aarey colony. As many as 29 activists were arrested and were later released on bail. Following an urgent hearing the Supreme Court has imposed a stay on further felling of trees.
Bullet Train
After putting stay on the Aarey car shed, the MVA government decided to review the
Rs 1.1 lakh crore Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project which was another flagship project of the previous government. Earlier, Uddhav had alleged that the bullet train project would benefit Gujarat more at the cost of money from Maharashtra. The state share in the expenses for building the bullet train project was projected around 25 per cent of the total project cost.
Public To Private Bank
Recently Uddhav Thackeray decided to transfer the salary accounts of the police department from the Axis Bank to a public sector bank. During the tenure of the Fadnavis government, the Chief Minister had transferred the police department’s salary accounts from SBI to the Axis Bank. This step of Fadnavis had stirred a controversy after Mohnish Jabalpure a Nagpur-based activist who had filed a petition with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleged that the shift was motivated by Fadnavis for personal reasons as his wife Amruta holds a top position at the bank.
Last but not the least, the MVA government, has opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and would soon take a call on the controversial Act. It is reported that after Kerala and Punjab, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government is also mulling over a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in Maharashtra Assembly.
