Shiv Sena slams MNS for opposing use of BMC funds for Vikrant

Shiv Sena slammed Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for opposing that BMC should use its own funds to save the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from getting auctioned.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena on Thursday slammed the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for opposing the proposal that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation should use its own funds to save the decommissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant from getting auctioned. Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray, in the editorial in the party mouthpiece `Saamana` today, dubbed MNS as new avatar of the (now extinct) Praja Samajwadi Party.

"It is a new avtaar of Praja Samajwadi which always opposed developmental proposals," the editorial said. "The MNS group leader in BMC has said that Vikrant should be saved from getting auctioned. But he has asked why BMC`s money be spent to save the ship," it said, adding that this stand was "an insult" to the martyrs who laid their lives for the country. Stating that Shiv Sena (which rules in the BMC along with BJP) is keen on saving the ship, it said, "Even if the government is not ready to support the cause, we do not want the ship to go under the hammer." "BMC had earmarked Rs 25 crore in its annual budget for the maintenance of Vikrant for the past four years. By adding another Rs 75 crore, the money can be used for the maintenance of the ship," it said.