UPA ministers caught in turf war

Daggers are drawn between two ministers in the UPA Government—Vilas Muttemwar and Praful Patel—in an apparent territorial war for political supremacy in Maharashtra’s Vidharbha region.

Daggers are drawn between two ministers in the UPA Government—Vilas Muttemwar and Praful Patel—in an apparent territorial war for political supremacy in Maharashtra’s Vidharbha region.

The first salvo was fired by Muttemwar, six-term Congress MP from Nagpur and Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for New and Renewable Energy. He shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday pointing out the “malicious intention” of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to thwart the setting up of the proposed multi-model international air passenger and cargo hub at Nagpur.

“While the Minister of Civil Aviation could release Rs 150 crore for setting up an Aviation Academy at Gondia (Patel’s home turf) without any techno-economic feasibility report and conducting any survey of the area, he has obviously ill intention of putting a spoke in the smooth implementation of the Nagpur project,” said Muttemwar in his letter.

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“I do not respond to frivolous people making frivolous complaints,” Patel said in response.

Muttemwar cited an affidavit filed in the Nagpur Bench of the Mumbai High Court by the Additional Solicitor General on behalf of the Ministry of Civil Aviation in reply to a PIL. The affidavit stated, he said, that the Ministry has not yet decided on a timeframe to complete the formalities to transfer the airport (to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company).

Yet, at a meeting with the Maharashtra Chief Minister on August 25, Patel made a firm commitment to complete all formalities and to obtain the approval of the Cabinet about the transfer of the Nagpur airport at the earliest, said Muttemwar. “This is in complete contradiction to what has been stated in the affidavit,” he said.

“It is nothing but the recalcitrant and deliberate attitude of the minister (Patel) to throw a spanner in the development of the airport with the malicious intention to thwart and mitigate the continued and honest efforts made by me to achieve the timely implementation of this project,” Muttemwar wrote. He was learnt to have taken it up with Congress President Sonia Gandhi as well.

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“This is a case of sour grapes. We propose to make Nagpur an international air cargo hub and so now frivolous people are trying to hog the limelight when they know it is going to happen,” Patel told The Indian Express. “I think I have done more for the development of the aviation sector in Nagpur in the last three years than what has been done in the last 50 years,” he added.