MUMBAI: After the six Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha MPs who defected to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction blamed paucity of funds for their decision, it has been revealed that the parliamentarians barely used the funds allotted for them.
Six MPs from the Uddhav Thackeray-led party who switched sides --Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East), Nagesh Patil-Ashtikar (Hingoli), Omprakash Rajenimbalkar (Dharashiv) and Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi)-- said they had not received adequate development funds for their constituencies while sitting in opposition.
However, when the MPs' fund and expenditure account was checked, it was revealed that they barely spent their Member of Parliament's Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) fund. The MPs had also not carried out any major development.
More than 80 per cent of the fund was found to be unused, and the undertaken projects were yet to be completed.
Out of the Rs 19 crore MPLADS fund for his constituency, Nagesh Patil Aashtikar had spent only Rs 5 crore.
Patil has undertaken a total of 119 small and big projects, and out of them, only 28 were completed.
Omprakash Nimbalkar, the Dharashiv MP who recently joined Shiv Sena, was able to spend only Rs 2 crore against his total MPLADS fund of Rs 18.5 crore. Nimbalkar has undertaken a total of 151 small and big projects, and out of them, only 21 are completed.
Sanjay Deshmukh, the MP from Yawatmal and Wasim have no different story. Out of his Rs 18.6 crore MP LDS fund, he was able to use only Rs 1.4 crore, that is barely 7.6 per cent of the total fund. Deshmukh undertook 113 projects, but completed only seven projects, while 99 are yet to be completed.
Sanjay Patil, MP from Mumbai North East, got Rs 14.7 crore as MP LDS fund, while he used only Rs 15.6 lakh, which is mere 1.1 per cent fund utilisation. He undertook a total of 40 projects, and not a single one was completed.
Parbhani MP Sanjay Jadhav's LDS fund records show that he received Rs 14.7 crore in funds, but spent mere Rs 3.8 crore, which is 25.7 per cent of the expenditure. Mr Jadhav undertook 81 projects and completed 25, while 56 are still pending.
Bhausaheb Waghchore from Shirdi, who joined the Shiv Sena citing paucity of funds, received Rs 14.7 crore MP LDS fund, but was able to use only Rs 71.3 lakh, that is, a bare 4.9 per cent utilisation. Besides, he undertook 137 projects in his respective constituencies and was able to complete only two projects, while 135 are yet to see the light of day.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had alleged that the MPS had left the party after being offered Rs 50 crore, while claiming that the paucity of funds was not a convincing reason.
"If they were really serious about the development in their respective constituencies, then why majority of their MP LDS fund lying unused and projects are still pending despite ample availability of the fund?” Raut asked.
