Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai (SHP)

Mumbai, Jun 17: Prakash Mehta, senior leader of BJP managed to stir up quite a commotion among the opposition. Recently, he was dropped from the Maharashtra cabinet after facing allegations regarding the slum redevelopment controversy.

Dhananjay Munde, leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, said, “Prakash Mehta should be booked. The Lokayukta’s report has proved his wrongdoing.” Munde continued to exert his pressure on chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis to take strict actions against Mehta.

On the contrary, it is to be believed that the action of dropping Prakash Mehta from the cabinet was to stall the rebuttal from the opposition. The cabinet reshuffle and expansion is a strategic move by the BJP to get an edge in the 2019 assembly elections. The reshuffle has provided room for new candidates and dropped several senior party leaders who have failed to meet the expectations.

When asked for a comment on the same, chief minister Fadnavis, refused. He further said, “An action taken report on the matter will be submitted in the monsoon session, I do not wish to comment further on the issue. The report is the property of the state legislature. Any discussion on it can invite a breach of privilege of the members.”

Prakash Mehta came under fire for issuing orders which permitted the slum developer to utilize the buildable space to provide residence for the slum dwellers. He then permitted the developer to retain the incentive sale area of 71,822 square feet, which he was ideally not allowed to keep. The government had later blocked the proposal. Incidentally, the role of a former SRA CEO Vishwas Patil, a retired IAS officer and the CM himself had come under the scanner in this matter. There was a lot of clamour regarding the same due to which Governor, C Vidyasagar Rao had asked Justice Tahaliyani to look into the issue on September 6, 2017.

Following the reshuffle and expansion, three other members of the party were dropped; Rajkumar Badole, Vishnu Savara and Dilip Kamble. The ministers had been booked for several wrongdoings. Kamble was involved in a cheating case, where he demanded Rs 1.92 crore to issue license for a wine shop.

Ashok Chavan, Maharashtra Congress president, when asked to comment on removal of Mehta from the cabinet, said that it was just the party’s way to shield him.