Aaditya Thackeray slams Maharashtra government for putting ‘prime plots’ in Mumbai on auction
The Hindu
Aaditya Thackeray accuses BJP of looting Mumbai by giving free land to Adani Group, sparking controversy and criticism.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday accused Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) of looting Mumbai by giving 1,080 acres of land free of cost to Adani Group and putting prime plots, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandai, Malabar Hill BEST power receiving station, and Worli’s Asphalt plant, on auction.
“Mahayuti [referring to the ruling coalition in Maharashtra] is unable to sell Mumbai or connect it to Gujarat. So they are giving free land to the Adani group. On one hand, they scrap the ₹50 toll while, on the other, giving ₹50,000 crore benefits to Adani in Cabinet meetings,” he said.
Also read: Ahead of Assembly polls, Shinde government clears salt pan land for Adani Group project
Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, the Worli MLA said, “Three prime plots are put on auction, without stating the reason, and they are doing this to ‘generate money for the financial management’ of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.”
He said Uddhav Thackeray, as Chief Minister, had brought BMC up from a deficit of ₹600 crore to a surplus of ₹92000 crore. “While doing that, we never imposed taxes on services to Mumbaikars but, in fact, waived property tax on houses within 500 sq ft. They want to put public properties on auction to earn money as they are done with road work scams, sanitary pad vending machine scams, and more.”
Taking potshots at the BJP, Aaditya Thackeray said, “Today they are taking away Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandai - a market for fish vendors. Soon they will auction Hutatma Chowk. They will soon enter Koliwadas of Versova, Dharavi, Bandra, Worli, Juhu, and Colaba and make clusters, giving these to their favourite builders.”
Mr. Thackeray spoke of cancelling the bid and conducting a criminal investigation into these auctions after coming to power.
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