Mumbai, Sep 19 Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) on Friday claimed that the Maharashtra government was a government of "braggers" and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his two deputies, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, have been engaged in boasting most of the time.
The trigger for the Thackeray camp’s outburst is the praise showered by the trio on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, claiming how he has changed the lives of people in the country. It targeted Dy CM Shinde in particular for releasing a full-page advertisement on PM Modi’s Viksit Bharat 2047 goal.
The Shiv Sena(UBT) in its mouthpiece 'Saamana' editorial alleged that the claims made by CM Fadnavis and Dy CMs Shinde and Pawar about development during PM Modi's tenure were an exaggeration. It alleged that the "once advanced, wealthy state like Maharashtra is now reeling under a public debt burden of a whopping Rs 9.50 lakh crore. In the last three months, the state government has taken a loan of Rs 24,000 crore, further increasing the debt burden".
“Chief Minister Fadnavis announced that now we are going to make one crore woman Lakhpati Didis at a time when Maharashtra has gone into the abyss. Corruption and looting have reached their peak. The Chief Minister and the people of Dy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar-led parties have become millionaires and billionaires through the brokerage of contractors. Whether Maharashtra is drowning in debt or farmers have committed suicide due to debt and drought, it does not matter to people like Eknath Shinde,” said the editorial.
The Thackeray camp slammed Dy CM Shinde over his statement that the government is going to take development to the last person, saying that only if villages are developed, the development of the taluka, district, state and country will take place.
The editorial also took a swipe at Dy CM Shinde’s statement that he goes to his native village only to get rejuvenated by working in agriculture. However, the editorial said Dy CM Shinde’s views are contradictory to the ground-level situation, especially when the condition of farmers in Maharashtra is not good. The crops have been washed away due to floods and rain. Farmers have been pleading in front of the officials who came for the Panchnama. In these eight days, 17 farmers committed suicide and over 2,000 in a year. “Lakhs of farmers are in debt, and the smiles on their faces have faded. So, what kind of farm does Dy CM Shinde have and what grows in that farm that makes his face look younger after working in agriculture? So what is he doing to ensure that smile on his face will also be seen on the faces of lakhs of farmers in the state who are in distress?” asked the editorial.
Stepping up the attack on Dy CM Shinde, the editorial claimed that his claim of taking development to the last person is a joke when many villages in his home Thane district are still desperately waiting for the rays of development. "There are no roads, no schools, no health services. During the rain, children have to walk through mud and sometimes through the flooded river to go to school. Sick and pregnant women have to be taken to the taluka by 'doli' (a palanquin), but Dy CM Shinde is reaping the fruits of development."
Thackeray camp said Dy CM Shinde goes to the fields in a helicopter when he is bored. “People like Dy CM Shinde may be looking evergreen, but there is no smile on the people's faces. His fields should be opened for tourism. Let the people know what grows in his fields. Many millions of farmers get seeds from his lush farming,” it taunted.
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