Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray criticized the Eknath Shinde government in Maharashtra on Saturday for their intentions to travel to foreign countries at the expense of taxpayers.
He also sought to know if the wagh nakh (tiger claw-shaped weapon) being brought to Maharashtra from a museum in United Kingdom would stay here permanently or was it on loan and whether it belonged to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or was it from the era of the legendary warrior king. State culture minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and officials from his department are slated to go to the UK on October 3 to get the revered weapon back.
Addressing a press conference, Thackeray, while slamming the Shinde government over foreign tours, wanted to know why industries minister Uday Samant was going to Davos four months ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) there. He said Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe led a 50-member delegation on a study tour abroad. What study was done during this tour? Farmers are in misery here and money is being splurged in this manner, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader alleged.
Thackeray said CM Shinde and Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar had dropped plans to tour foreign nations after he raised right questions about the futility of such visits, which produce no outcomes for the state. Shinde cancelled his trips to UK and Germany, while Narwekar was supposed to be part of a delegation to Ghana. Thackeray said Shinde was supposed to visit Germany and UK for a "holiday disguised as an official tour of the government with a huge number of people shown as delegation.
The visit was cancelled within 30 minutes of my social media post after he asked details about investments that would come in and places covered, Thackeray claimed. Foreign visits are being planned without any concrete agenda. If you want to go on a holiday, go on your own money. Why are you using taxpayers' money? After asking the right questions, the illegal CM of Maharashtra and the Speaker had to cancel their trips, Thackeray claimed.
He said the joke was Narwekar was going for the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference even as he delays a decision on the disqualification pleas against Shiv Sena MLAs, including the CM. Thackeray claimed the 5-day visit of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to Japan was paid for by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation despite the latter being invited by the government there.