Opposition parties in Maharashtra put pressure on Uddhav Thackeray to unlock

Mumbai: Opposition parties in Maharashtra are mounting pressure on the Uddhav Thackeray government to further ease restrictions imposed in the wake of Covid-19, as many parts of the state continue to be in lockdown. Parties from the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi of Prakash Ambedkar and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to the BJP are accusing the government of not doing enough to contain the pandemic and relax the restrictions. The prolonged shutdown, they said, was affecting the livelihood of people.

Ambedkar has cautioned that people could violate lockdown orders if the state government did not lift the curbs on its own. The MNS, meanwhile, has carried out a survey, asking people questions on the lockdown, whether it should end. The Maharashtra government has claimed that much of the restrictions had been lifted. But movement from one district to another, as well as lack of local transport, means people find it difficult to travel, and this has hurt businesses.