Make cabinet meetings transparent: Sena to BJP

After an acrimonious election campaign between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, coloured by allegations of graft and lack of transparency, the very first cabinet meeting after the elections saw the Sena demand an amendment in laws for a more transparent cabinet.

Three of the four Shiv Sena cabinet ministers in the Bjp-led state government, Diwakar Raote, Eknath Shinde and Deepak Sawant, attended the meeting at the CM’S official residence Varsha, on Friday, and asked for cabinet meetings to be opened to ministers of state, opposition leader, members of the media and a Lokayukta. Shinde, the minister of the public works department (public undertakings), said, “Whatever amendment needs to be done to legislation should be done. A law under the Union government, which details government conduct, has to be amended to permit inclusion of ministers of state, opposition leader, media and Lokayukta in the cabinet. The state should send this request to the Union.” Shinde told HT that the CM (also holds the portfolio of the general administration department) said meeting he will look into how this can be taken forward.

Raote, state transport minister, said the state had always set a precedent for the country, with path-breaking initiatives such as the employment guarantee scheme and RTI Act, and should also take the initiative to make cabinet proceedings transparent.

BJP’S Sudhir Mungantiwar, the state finance minister, said, “The BJP is committed to transparency, so we are willing to make changes. But that will be within framework of the constitution.” “Decisions made in cabinet are made public that day itself. Files can be accessed under RTI, so there is already transparency. If tomorrow the Constitution allows for journalists to sit in cabinet meetings, we are open to that.” The party’s ministers, however, said inviting the media or Lokayukta to a cabinet meeting goes against the oath of confidentiality ministers take.

Before the two parties split up for local polls, the BJP alleged lack of transparency in the BMC, which Sena has controlled for two decades. By beating the Sena over transparency, the BJP was attempting to distance itself from graft allegations in road works and desilting contracts. The Sena retorted, saying there was enough transparency in BMC as meetings of the standing committee — which approves works and tenders — were attended by representatives of all parties and media. The Sena trained its guns on the state cabinet’s functioning, saying BJP should make the meetings more transparent, and it reiterated this in the cabinet meeting soon after polls. “We are going to make sure state takes action. If this kind of transparency exists in local bodies, it should be there in government too,” Shinde said. CM Devendra Fadnavis said legal validity of the changes Sena has asked will be examined.