Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra unit president and MLA Chandrakanta Patil on Wednesday said Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should hand over his responsibilities to someone else till he recovers. He said his absence during the winter session of the state assembly was “inappropriate”.
Patil made this statement while talking to reporters outside the Vidhan Bhavan before the start of the session on Wednesday. Patil said, “If Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is unable to attend the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, he should nominate someone for his works.
It is unfair that the Chief Minister should be absent from the proceedings of the legislature. We will not accept the chief minister’s complete absence from the session.” The BJP leader said the chief minister should hand over his charge to the Shiv Sena or someone else from his family, considering his health. Taking a dig at the ruling allies, Patil said, “He does not have faith in the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as they cannot step down. He can hand over the charge to his son and Minister of State Aaditya Thackeray.
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There is a coalition government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in Maharashtra. State Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, however, said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has made preparations for the legislature proceedings. He said, “Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is in good health and he can come to the assembly anytime. There is no need to delegate the work to someone else. He is working from home.” Shiv Sena president Thackeray, 61, had recently undergone neck surgery for which he was hospitalized for three weeks.
Since being discharged from the hospital, Thackeray has been working from his official residence ‘Varsha’ and has been attending all cabinet meetings online. The Chief Minister had also recently visited the Vidhan Bhavan. Then he appeared in public for the first time after surgery.
On Tuesday, Thackeray held a cabinet meeting via video conference and attended the MLAs’ tea party on the eve of the winter session. Meanwhile, before the commencement of the session, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar addressed the MLAs of the ruling MVA at Vidhan Bhavan. The MVA leaders also garlanded the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Vidhan Bhawan complex. (agency)