Deshmukh under fire for ties with suicide belt’s moneylender-MLA

This apart, “We are also going to take the government to task on the issue of farmers’ suicides and its total failure in preventing suicides and providing relief to the kin of victims.”

As first reported by The Indian Express, no less than the Chief Minister came out in support of the Sanandas though police records showed that over 40 cases had been registered against them for illegal money-lending, land grabbing to kidnapping, manhandling to torture.

But Kadam said the Opposition would not stop at the Chief Minister. They plan to “expose” state Revenue Minister Narayan Rane for not keeping his promise (made during the last session) of rehabilitating Konkan farmers hit by floods last year.

“Rane had promised to rehabilitate farmers and had said that there would be no shortage of funds. He has not kept his promise,” said Kadam.

Maintaining that the Democratic Front government had “failed on all fronts”, he said: “Malnutrition has not remained confined to tribal areas, but has reached Mumbai.” The state government, he said, was “totally indifferent to the plight of the common man, be it the farmer or a poor citizen.”

The monsoon session is also likely to see the Shiv Sena cornering Rane. Soon after he defected to the Congress last year, Rane had an upper hand on the Sena. But during the last session, Sena MLAs took on the Konkan strongman head-on.

Among the important Bills likely to be discussed are indirect elections of presidents of municipal councils (as the state’s experiment with direct elections has backfired); option of levying property tax on capital value. Ordinances which are to be converted into Bills include the provision for 25 per cent reservations for backward classes in professional educational institutions.