Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Monday denied the allegation made by the Opposition that the several approved projects have been moved to Gujarat from Maharashtra. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar accused the Opposition of making baseless information for electoral gains.
The latest controversy is caused by the Shiv Sena UBT and Congress’s allegation that a submarine tourism project, which is expected to come up at Nivati beach in Sindhudurg, has been moved to Gujarat. Recently, the Gujarat government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd for a submarine facility at Bet Dwarka, a small island off the coast of Dwarka city. After the reports about Gujarat government’s MoU, local Shiv Sena legislator Vaibhav Naik alleged that the project from Sindhudurg was being moved to Gujarat.
However, Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that the Opposition is indulging in misinformation in the wake of forthcoming elections. He said that the Maharashtra government would not have kept quiet if the state had indeed lost a project to another state.
“There is no truth in the Opposition’s allegations that projects are being moved from Maharashtra. How can it happen? If it was true, chief minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and I would not have sat quietly,” Pawar said.
Accusing the Opposition of trying to turn people against the government by making false claims, Pawar said, “If anything has gone wrong, our cabinet will take corrective steps. But without reason, if anyone is resorting to defamation, then it should stop.”
There are three assembly constituencies in Sindhudurg. While Shiv Sena UBT legislator Naik alleged that the tourism submarine project from his district has gone to Gujarat, the other two MLAs from the district — cabinet minister Deepak Kesarkar and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane — rubbished the claim. “Not only Gujarat, but even the Kerala government is trying to implement similar projects in their states. The Sindhudurg project has not been moved anywhere. In fact it was delayed because of former tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray. We will complete the project,” Rane said.
Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut had claimed that the submarine project as well as 16 other projects have been moved to Gujarat by “looting Maharashtra”. When asked about it, Pawar said he does not respond to statements of “non-entity”. However, the remark did not go well with Raut. Calling Pawar a slave of BJP, Raut said, “Those who chose slavery, who are cowards, should not comment on us.”
