Will not fish in troubled waters of Maharashtra: Joshi

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the BJP would not wish to fish in the troubled waters of Maharashtra.

Speaking to media persons on Sunday, he said BJP has nothing to do with the Maharashtra political crisis. “If the Shiv Sena leaders are unable to hold on to their own MLAs, how are we to be blamed? Had it been five or six MLAs switching loyalty, then one could have said BJP was behind it. But today of the 57 MLAs, more than 40 have deserved the Shiv Sena. We have information that another two-three MLA is on the verge of jumping ship,” he said.

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Joshi also clarified that there are no talks within his party regarding the merger of rebel Maharashtra MLAs with the BJP.

Responding to a question on the contentious Hubballi-Ankola Railway line, which cuts through the pristine Western Ghats, Joshi said the issue is with the Wildlife Board and in the final stages of getting ‘clearance’.

Earlier, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai claimed that his government has every intention of starting the Hubballi-Ankola Railway line project within this year.