'If MLAs can abandon Uddhav...': Maha BJP chief's swipe at Shiv Sena leader over on state losing projects

Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government has been facing flak over losing big-ticket projects to Gujarat, including a Rs 1.5 lakh crore Foxconn-Vedanta project and a Rs 22,000 crore Tata-Airbus project.

New Delhi: Taking a swipe at former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maharashtra president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday (November 13, 2022) said that if the MLAs of his own party can abandon him, then why industrial projects cannot move out of the state. His remarks came in the wake of the Eknath Shinde-led state government facing flak over losing big-ticket projects to BJP-ruled Gujarat, including a Rs 1.5 lakh crore Foxconn-Vedanta semiconductor manufacturing project and a Rs 22,000 crore Tata-Airbus aircraft project.

"If Uddhav Thackeray's MLAs can abandon him, then why industries cannot move out of Maharashtra? But the blame of such decisions is put on the new government headed by Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis," Bawankule said.

Thackeray spent his entire tenure as the chief minister to manage the NCP and the Congress. He was not concerned whether any industry comes to Maharashtra or not, Bawankule, a former state minister, alleged.

"If you want to bring in large-scale industrial investment into the state, then the chief minister needs to be available. The previous CM (Thackeray) did not even visit the Mantralaya (state secretariat in Mumbai) for 18 months and senior officials had to wait for his appointment," he added.

It is noteworthy that Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, in which the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress shared power with the Shiv Sena, collapsed in June this year following an intra-party revolt by Shinde and 39 other MLAs of the Sena.

Shinde then took oath as the chief minister on June 30 after the group of rebel MLAs led by him formed a government by joining hands with Devendra Fadnavis' BJP.

Earlier last week, Union minister Narayan Rane said that multiple projects from overseas are "waiting" to come to Maharashtra and the Eknath Shinde-BJP government will provide a conducive environment for industrialists to set up their units.

While speaking at an event on November 8, the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) also said that the recent criticism of the Shinde-led government over some projects moving to Gujarat was political in nature. 

In an apparent dig at the erstwhile MVA government, the BJP leader said that those in power till a few months ago had failed to bring new projects to the state. 

"Multiple projects from around the world are on the waiting list to come to Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. The state government will provide a suitable environment for these projects," he said without elaborating. 

(With agency inputs)