MUMBAI: NCP president
Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena parliamentary leader
Sanjay Raut on Wednesday complained to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about Maharashtra governor
Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s interference in administrative work, but Pawar stated that the Opposition extended unconditional support to steps taken by Modi to curtail the impact of Covid-19, during his videoconference with prominent Opposition party leaders on the lockdown.
A fortnight after a 21-day lockdown was announced, Pawar urged Modi to examine the possibility of selective state-wise planning, without compromising on people’s health and livelihood. He said since it had a worldwide impact, particularly on the economy, it was high time stringent measures were taken to curb wasteful expenditure. “The government should drastically curtail nonplanned expenditure and the NDA government should reconsider its plan to construct a new Parliament building or at least postpone it now,’’ Pawar said.
“The Nizamuddin incident has raised concerns about the spread of Covid-19. We need to focus on how to prevent it. It is not proper to blame or criticize a community,’’ Pawar said.
Raut told TOI his party raised the issue of India’s reaction to US President
Donald Trump threat to India. “Opposition parties are with PM. This is not the way to seek help from a friend. If you are a friend, you should ask for help as a friend,” said Raut.
Pawar, without naming the governor, said he had authority but instructions must be routed through the chief minister and chief secretary to avoid multiple power centres. “It is heard that in some states, governors are directly issuing instructions to the bureaucracy,’’ Pawar said. Koshyari recently interacted with divisional commissioners and collectors on the status of shelter camps.
Raut said, “Pawar and I pointed out that decisionmaking should be with only one person, the PM in the country and CM for the state.”
Leader of Opposition,
Devendra Fadnavis said the governor could seek information from the government.
With inputs from Sujit Mahmulkar