Nana Patole alleges PM Modi visiting Maharashtra to get industries to shift to Gujarat

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Thursday claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the state to get some industries, including the diamond sector, to shift to neighbouring Gujarat. He also alleged the BJP-led state government was looting Maharashtra on the instructions of Delhi (an apparent reference to the Centre).

The activities of shifting mega investment projects from Maharashtra to Gujarat has been going on for the last one-and-half years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is touring the state today to shift diamond and other business activities in Mumbai to Surat (in Gujarat), Patole alleged.

The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government is making all efforts to reduce the importance of Mumbai in the country's economy. The state's BJP-led government is looting Maharashtra on the instructions of Delhi. A vast diamond industry is being developed in Surat, which will take away Mumbai's business, he told reporters.

PM Modi was in Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, where he inaugurated a massive devotees complex of the renowned Sai Baba temple, the canal network of the Nilwande Dam, as well as the Namo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana under which 85 lakh farmers of the state will get Rs 12,000 each per year as aid.