Hinjewadi part of her constituency, her ‘suggestion’ accepted, but MP Sule not invited for the crucial meeting

Fadnavis had called the meeting of Pune officials and stakeholders at 2 pm in Vidhan Bhavan following public uproar. Residents of Hinjewadi have also started an online campaign seeking merger of the IT hub with PCMC.

Sule’s associates, however, said the idea mooted by the MP to appoint a nodal officer has been accepted the government.

Following the mega power outage, Sule had on Monday in a letter urged Fadnavis to appoint a nodal officer to resolve civic issues until an independent authority is appointed for the area. Sule had suggested either formation of a Special City Development Authority or an Industrial Urban Administrative Authority. The CM on Thursday announced the setting up of a Single Point Authority headed by Pune divisional commissioner. ”Despite the fact that Hinjewadi was part of the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, the government does not have the courtesy to invite the local MP to discuss the issues affecting the IT hub. It was Supriya Sule who had written a letter to the CM and had tweeted urging him to hold an urgent meeting to discuss Hinjewadi’s problems,” her associates said.

Mahesh Tapase, spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP), said the current government has often insulted MPs and MLAs of Opposition parties. “When issues of public interest come and especially when the issues related to a constituency are represented by an MLA or MP, it is the duty of the government to invite them for any such meeting,” he said.

“The government cannot take unilateral decisions without consulting local representatives. This is against the principles of our Constitution. But this government has the habit of bypassing the Constitution. We strongly condemn the government attitude,” Tapase added.

BJP MLA Shankar Jagtap, who was present at the meeting, said, “No MP was invited for the meeting…Only three MLAs were present. Even Pune MP was not invited.”

Heavy rain in recent days led to waterlogging in several key roads across the Hinjewadi area, resulting in huge traffic snarls. This irked IT professionals and residents who have launched a campaign to get their problems redressed by the state government.

Hinjewadi is just outside the jurisdiction of the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad municipal corporations. The Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjewadi is under the control of the MIDC, while the residential area is governed by the PMRDA. This means that residents are often compelled to follow up on grievances with multiple agencies, resulting in considerable loss of time and mental distress, Sule had told Fadnavis in the letter.