The state budget session will be held in Mumbai from March 3 to 25. The annual budget for 2022-23 will be presented by the state deputy chief minister and finance minister Ajit Pawar on March 11. The decision was taken at the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting held in Vidhan Bhawan on Tuesday. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray attended the BAC meet virtually. Speaking to the media after the meeting Fadnavis said, "The concern for Vidarbha which is the backward region has been completely neglected by the MVA government. It neither receives the adequate funds for development or infrastructure nor irrigation works." "The state government has once again done injustice to the backward region Vidarbha. In the winter session held in December, Maha Vikas Aghadi government had promised to hold the budget session in Nagpur in Vidarbha. But today they announced the budget session will be in Mumbai," he added. As per norms, it is mandatory for the state government to hold at least one session in Nagpur every year, since it is the second capital of Maharashtra. Accordingly, successive governments for the last several decades convened winter sessions in Nagpur. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the MVA government had skipped Nagpur as a venue for the last two successive years, convening all sessions in Mumbai instead. Every year state holds three legislative sessions -- budget(March), monsoon (June-July) and winter (November-December) Fadnavis pointed, "The concern for Vidarbha which is the backward region has been completely neglected by the MVA government. It neither receives the adequate funds for development or infrastructure nor irrigation works." “Now, it is evident that MVA which makes promises in the state legislative assembly does not fulfil them. It is extremely unfortunate and shows total disregard towards a region. Moreover, a commitment on the floor of the Assembly is sacrosanct,” he added. However, the state government dismissed charges levelled by the opposition. At the meeting it was explained that due to Covid norms and restrictions which still exist, it was not possible to hold sessions outside Mumbai. However, Pawar assured the Opposition that the budget session will not be curtailed.
