New Delhi, March 10: The Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi on Monday demanded a detailed discussion in the Parliament on the contentious issue of voters list, citing alleged discrepancies in the electoral rolls and duplication of Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers.

Rahul Gandhi, speaking in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, said that the entire Opposition wanted a discussion on the voters list and appealed to Speaker Om Birla to facilitate the same.

Congress MP’s demand for a discussion on the electoral rolls comes in the wake of the raging controversy over EPIC numbers. Days ago, Congress and TMC trained guns on the Election Commission demanding that it must come clean on the ‘duplicacy’ in the electoral rolls, failing which it will carry out an ‘expose’ on the poll panel.

Last month, Congress also questioned the alleged anomalies in Maharashtra Assembly elections claiming that more voters were added to the list in the past five months, as compared to the past five years.

Raising the pitch on the alleged discrepancies, Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha, “The voter lists are being questioned across the country. Questions have been raised by the opposition in every state, including Maharashtra. It is pertinent that the House holds a debate on the issue.

While demanding a dedicated discussion, he also hurled a direct charge at the Speaker, drawing an instant rebuttal from the latter.

“We accept your remarks that the government does not make voter lists. But we demand a discussion on the issue,” the Congress leader said in concluding remarks.

Meanwhile, a delegation of 10 TMC MPs is set to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to lodge complaints over alleged duplicacy in the EPIC numbers.

The poll panel has however ruled out any discrepancy, stating that duplication of alphanumeric series doesn’t necessarily mean a fake voters list.

The controversy broke out after some reports said that multiple people shared the same EPIC number. As the photos surfaced on social media, this gave strength to claims that duplicate IDs were nothing but amounted to fake voters.

Mumbai: Finance Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar presented the state budget in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly today. The public has expressed confidence in us in the assembly elections, so Mahayuti is committed to maintaining their trust. In this budget, special concessions and facilities have been given to the middle class. An attempt has been made to solve the problems of the people. With this resolve, Ajit Pawar has presented the budget for 2025-26, which is the first annual budget presented by the Mahayuti government.

Presenting the budget in the Assembly, Ajit Pawar said in his speech that Maharashtra will not stop, development will not be delayed, he also claimed that large-scale projects will be completed in the state, which will increase employment opportunities and boost the economy.

The state has set a target of an economy of one lakh trillion. Work on the Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is underway. Along with better industrial facilities in the state, employment opportunities and a technical center in the state and establishment of Maharashtra Technical Textile Mission for development work have also been implemented. It has also been assured in the budget that electricity rates will be reduced in the state. Electricity rates in the state will be lower than the rates of other provinces.

Ajit Pawar has also promised to complete many facilities and projects in the state budget. The work of Navi Mumbai airport is 85 percent complete, while work has started on Nagpur airport. Establishment of markets for agriculture has been ensured. Rs 3610 crore has been allocated for the transport department, out of which work has started on a 41 km long metro route in Mumbai.

A special project has been included in the budget for Mumbai, in which Rs 64,783 crore has been allocated for Versova to Madha, Versova to Bhayander Coastal Road, Malind to Goregaon, Thane to Borivali and Orange Gate to Marine Drive underground road to eliminate traffic problems in suburban areas. Thane to Navi Mumbai International Airport will be connected to the international airports of Thane, Dombivali, Kalyan and other important cities.

The work of the missing link at Khapoli-Khandala Ghat on Mumbai-Pune Highway will be completed by August 2025. Mumbai, Navi Mumbai Global Market will be established as well as Taluka Market Committee will be established across the state. Housing Scheme: Financial assistance of Rs 50,000 will be given for the house. Implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana will be ensured in the state. Under this scheme, assistance of Rs 50,000 will be provided to each person. Under the Pradhan Mantri Surya Ghar Yojana, Rs 1.30 lakh has been allocated for domestic electricity and Rs 1,000 crore for power generation of more than 500 MW.

The state government has so far spent Rs 33,232 crore on Ladli Behan in the budget, while the Finance Ministry has allocated Rs 36,000 crore for it. A Hope Mall will be started in every district to establish savings banks and 10 malls will be set up in the first phase.

A 200-bed hospital will be built in Thane of Ratnagiri district, which will provide medical facilities to the citizens. The second phase of construction of metro route will be implemented in Pune. In the second phase, Rs 9894 crore has been allocated for two metro routes. Both the metro projects have been sent for approval from the Central Government. A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be installed in Sangameshwar. Apart from this, Maratha Shaurya Smarak will be built in Panipat. A statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be built in Agra.

In this budget of the state government, a new tax has been imposed on the citizens. In this, a lump sum tax of 7% has been ensured on the purchase of cars. This tax has been imposed on electric cars and other things. This tax has been imposed on the purchase of cars worth more than 30 lakhs so that the common citizens do not face any problem. The state government has presented a budget of 7 lakh thousand crores. In this deficit budget, the burden of tax has been imposed on the citizens.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra state budget for fiscal year 2025-26 is being presented by the state Deputy CM and Finance Minister Ajit Pawar in Maharashtra State Assembly in Mumbai.

Jobs In Maharashtra

During the speech, the FM Pawar said that his government intends to create 50 lakh jobs for citizens of Maharashtra through a Rs 40 lakh crore investment over the next 5 years.

Pawar added that Maharashtra’s new Industrial Policy 2025 will soon be announced.

Special polices will also be announced in space, defence, electronics, MSME and circular economy.

Pawar also spoke about the introduction of new labour laws in the richest state.

In the speech, the FM said that he intends to build new business corridors in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, or MMR, and make it a Growth Hub.

Mumbai-Bengaluru Corridor

Highlighting CM Fadnavis’s trip to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Pawar said, MoUs signed with 63 companies at Davos Economic Summit, investment of a whopping Rs 15.72 lakh crores and estimated creation of 16 lakh jobs.”

The finance minister also updated the house on the status of the Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.

He said that land acquisition for the Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial Corridor is underway and this project will help set up industries in drought-prone areas of the state.