Mumbai, Nov 28 The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) on Friday accused the ruling Mahayuti coalition partners, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena, and Nationalist Congress Party, of spending an estimated Rs 1,000-1,200 crore during the ongoing local body elections in Maharashtra.
The party's mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, in a scathing editorial, charged that the state's political system is now trapped in a vicious "money for power, and power from money again" cycle.
It accused the ruling alliance partners of attempting to win municipal elections by pouring massive amounts of money into campaigns. It described the Shinde group as a "bubble created from corrupt money" with "fake and hypocritical" members.
The editorial hailed Shiv Sena legislator Nilesh Rane for raiding the homes of BJP functionaries in Konkan and recovering large sums of cash, noting that he had carried out a task expected of the Election Commission. It claimed that BJP state president Ravindra Chavan, who is from the region, had been distributing money during the municipal polls.
The editorial noted the remarks made by ministers from different parties in MahaYuti. It quoted State Minister Chandrasekhar Bawankule telling party workers that they need not worry about funds and should focus only on winning the polls.
It then referred to a more contentious remark attributed to Shiv Sena Minister Gulabrao Patil.
“We have plenty of goods. Because the Urban Development department is with us. Elections are on December 2. Sleep outside your homes on the night of December 1. Lakshmi will come," he had allegedly said.
The ‘Saamana’ editorial demanded Patil's immediate sacking from the cabinet.
The editorial alleged that each of the three ruling partners, namely the BJP, Shinde group, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, is spending about Rs 10 crore on every municipality. It estimated their combined outlay for the municipal elections at about Rs 1000 to 1200 crore.
Thackeray camp questioned the source of this money, sarcastically noting that "Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis doesn't bring this money from Nagpur's farming, deputy CM Eknath Shinde doesn't get it from Satara farming, or deputy CM Ajit Pawar doesn't collect it from the sales of grapes and sugarcane in Baramati," suggesting the money was the result of corruption.
The editorial targeted the Urban Development Department under Eknath Shinde, claiming that it had become a major source of illicit funds. It pointed out the contradiction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent remarks against corruption and what it described as a government dependent on illegal money.
It noted the irony that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks daily against corruption, his party-led government "floats on illegal money."
“The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation issued works worth Rs 2 lakh crore that were never actually executed on the ground, and this money has now found its way into municipal elections through contractors,” it alleged.
The Uddhav camp alleged that Fadnavis was surrounded by corrupt people. It said that this might be Fadnavis’s internal concern, but Maharashtra was paying the price in reputation. It also criticised both Fadnavis and the Election Commission for remaining silent on open claims by ministers about distributing money to influence voters.
The editorial claimed that several important departments had become channels for election funding. It said that Bawankule oversaw the revenue department, Shinde headed urban development, and Ajit Pawar controlled finance.
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