Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's visit to flood affected Solapur district has sparked controversy as soon as it began. Thackeray arrived at Solapur airport accompanied by Maharashtra Congress President & Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat and headed by road towards Sangvi Khurd village.
As per the itinerary, Thackeray was to start his tour from Sangvi Khurd. At Sangvi Khurd in Solapur district, farmers expressed disappointment at the chief minister’s decision to review losses to crops from the bridge on Bhori river instead of visiting the fields.
The villagers of Sangvi Khurd were told to come to the Bhori river bridge to meet the Chief Minister. However, the villagers did not agree and demanded that the CM should come to the village. The villagers also asked, how will the Chief Minister see our collapsed houses and damage from the river bridge? Sarpanch Baban Pawar while talking to Lokmat said that the Chief Minister should come to the village from the bridge as per the demand of the villagers.
Earlier this week, heavy rains and floods claimed at least 48 lives in Pune, Aurangabad and Konkan divisions, while crops on lakhs of hectares were damaged. As per the official information, till Friday, as many as 40,036 people had been shifted to safer places in four districts, including over 32,500 in Solapur and over 6,000 in Pune.
Thackeray's visit to flood affected region began after criticism from opposition parties that CM should step out and assess the loss from the ground instead of evaluating the situation through video conferencing.