However, leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar pointed out that one of the schemes had been cleared in the MVA government’s budget in March.
The cabinet approved a revised budget of Rs 890 crore for the Brahmagavhan lift irrigation scheme in Aurangabad’s Paithan area, the district of rebel MLA Sandipan Bhumre. It also cleared the Balasaheb Thackeray Turmeric Research Centre in Hingoli with a Rs 100-crore budget.
This project was being pursued by rebel MLAs Santosh Bangar and Tanaji Mutkule as well as rebel MP Hemant Patil, who belong to the district. In addition, the cabinet cleared a development plan for the Lonar crater ( Buldhana) with a budget of Rs 369 crore, which was being pursued by rebel MLA Sanjay Raimulkar and rebel MP Prataprao Jadhav who hail from the district.
CM Eknath Shinde ensured that rebel legislators got credit for the clearance of the schemes by naming them in his interaction with the media. “The Brahmagavhan lift irrigation scheme was pursued continuously by MLA Sandipan Bhumre,” Shinde emphasised. Water from the scheme will flow to 20,265 hectares of land in 65 villages. However, leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar pointed out that the Balasaheb Thackeray Turmeric Research Centre in Hingoli had been announced in the MVA budget in March. “The scheme was already announced with an allocation of Rs 100 crore,” he said.
The Brahmagavhan scheme is an old project and the cabinet has cleared its fourth revised administrative approval. The issue of the development of the Lonar crater had gone before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay HC and it had asked for the plan to be formulated.
The Shinde government has stayed over 400 decisions of the earlier MVA regime. However, it has been speedily facilitating projects located in the constituencies of rebel MLAs. Last week, it approved a Rs 19-crore increase in the project cost of a spinning mill controlled by rebel MLA Prakash Abitkar. It has also sanctioned share equity worth Rs 15 crore for a spinning mill promoted by rebel MLA Abdul Sattar.
