Aaditya Thackeray bats for Uddhav Thackeray as the next CM of Maharashtra  

Shivsena (UBT) Leader Aaditya Thackeray at Today News 24 Poll Arena conclave in Mumbai on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray is the one person whom Maharashtra trusts today for the Chief Minister’s post, Aaditya Thackeray said on Wednesday (November 6, 2024) at Today News 24 Poll Arena, as he made a pitch for his father to be the CM face of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. However, on the same platform, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress president Nana Patole reiterated that the CM candidate will be decided by the high command only after the Assembly election.

Also Read: Maharashtra election: MVA promises ₹3,000 per month to women

“Every tracker and survey shows that the one person whom Maharashtra trusts today is Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray to take the State forward,” Mr. Aaditya Thackeray said. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of breaking Mumbai down.

Also Read: The fight with Ajit Pawar is real and there’s no question of reconciliation: Supriya Sule

“If people of Maharashtra vote for the BJP, they are voting for a stronger Gujarat because in the last 10 years at the Centre and in the last two-and-a-half years in Maharashtra, the BJP has only engaged people in terms of caste and religion… Voting for the BJP means supporting the destruction of Maharashtra. If BJP comes to power, Mumbai’s name will change to Adani City,” he said.

“We have been fighting for the future of Maharashtra, we are dealing with issue-based politics. During our regime, anytime there was a calamity, the farmers were helped directly and not in the embarrassing fashion like the BJP does today by distributing ₹25 or ₹50 cheque. Law and order was never in a crazy situation as it is today, mob lynching was never the case here, people never fought over religion and caste. Today, there are no investments coming into Maharashtra. The pride of Maharashtra is crushed as every big investment and industry is pushed out of Maharashtra and taken to Gujarat. No government in the history of India has been so shameless, corrupt, dysfunctional like the ruling Mahayuti,” Mr. Aaditya Thackeray said.

He also claimed that all the development projects inaugurated by the Mahayuti government were actually introduced by the Uddhav Thackeray government. “The Samruddhi Mahamarg (Nagpur-Mumbai Expressway) was initiated by us and Devendra Fadnavis, who had nothing to do with it is claiming all the credit,” he said.

“For the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, which Mahayuti is branding as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Trans Harbour Link, 82% of the work was done by us and they still have not completed the rest of the project. The ruling Mahayuti’s priority is to only delay the already introduced projects, take credit for it, change the contractors, escalate the cost of project and mint money. This is the reason the ‘illegal’ CM is scared to face off with me and have a debate,” Mr. Aaditya Thackeray said.

The people of Dharavi deserve better homes but the firm in charge of the redevelopment has failed to take into consideration the micro industries in the 300 acres of hutments where at least four to five lakh people reside, he said. “What is problematic in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd [DRPPL] is that the tender says that 50% of the transfer of development rights [TDR] of any building across Mumbai will be bought by Mr. Adani and he will decide whom to give it to. The premium of ₹5,500 crore that should go to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation [BMC] will instead go to DRPPL and Slum Rehabilitation Authority [SRA] which is basically paying to itself as Mr. Adani is the lead partner in DRPPL. Moreover, two lakh families will be considered ineligible and will be pushed far away from Dharavi to live in areas like saltpans, dumping grounds etc. Why would anyone require another 540 acres to construct a slum? If we come to power, we will scrap this project. We will redevelop Dharavi within the 540 acres and we want in situ housing for each and every Dharavikar and everyone will be eligible for a free home,” Mr. Thackeray said.