All is not well between Shinde faction and BJP! Shiv Sena MP said – all this is due to the media
The issue of fund allocation was also discussed in the meeting of MPs with Chief Minister Shinde on Wednesday evening.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday left for New Delhi where he is likely to meet top BJP leaders. There is a buzz in Maharashtra politics that all is not well between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The Shiv Sena, however, denied that there was any rift with the BJP over the allocation of funds for the constituencies represented by its MLAs and MPs.
conflict over allocation of funds
Shinde-led Shiv Sena has 13 MPs. In the meeting of MPs with the Chief Minister on Wednesday evening, among other things, the issue of fund allocation was also discussed. Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barane told The Indian Express, “All our 13 MPs were present in the meeting. We discussed various issues. One of these issues was the allocation of funds. We brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that we are getting less development funds for our constituencies from the state government than the MLAs.”
Barne said, “Every year MPs get a development fund of Rs five crore from the central government. We do not get funds from the state government but we get the development work done by the state government. The amount of money spent on the development works of the MLAs is much more than the amount spent on the works suggested by the MPs. We wanted the CM to remove this discrepancy. He has promised to look into the issue.”
Shiv Sena MP refused
When asked whether BJP MPs got more funds for development, Barne said that we MPs did not make any such complaint, it is all due to the media. They want us to quarrel with each other. Asked whether the MPs discussed Shiv Sena’s share of Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming elections, Shrirang Barne said, “We discussed many issues but I cannot comment on all of them.”
According to sources, Shinde’s army is considering contesting on 22 Lok Sabha seats. However, the Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray has scoffed at the claim. Uddhav Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut told The Indian Express, “The Eknath Shinde group will not even get 5 seats to contest. We do not consider it a party. It is just a group that will soon disappear.”
Hitting back at this, Barne said, “Raut has no other work so he keeps venting his frustration. We do not give much importance to what he says.
