Mumbai, Oct 6 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s accusation that the MVA government stalled the Mumbai Metro 3 line work, saying they were not against development but wanted to save the Aarey forest.
Raut also hit back at the PM for claiming that the Congress, a partner in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), wants to contest polls from the money it gets by pushing the youth towards drugs. PM Modi should also talk about drug busts in Gujarat, he said.
During his visit to Maharashtra on Saturday, Modi said the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government only knew to stall work. “The Mumbai Metro 3 line work was stopped due to ego and taxpayers’ money was wasted as the cost of the project escalated by Rs 14,000 crore,” he said The MVA, which comprises the Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), also put hurdles in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train and Atal Setu projects and stopped water supply and irrigation schemes in the state, Modi said.
Responding to a question about Modi’s remarks, Raut said, “Sena (UBT) wanted to save the forest cover in the Aarey area of Mumbai. We never opposed to any development work.” The MVA government had objected to the Metro-3 car shed at Aarey on the ground that it would damage the green patch.
On the allegations against Congress over drugs, the Sena (UBT) leader said, “Modi has been in power for ten years. How can he even level such allegations against Congress? Was he sitting idle (and not taking action) for ten years?” The Rajya Sabha member said the more Modi campaigns in Maharashtra, the more seats BJP will lose in the upcoming assembly elections. Elections to the 288-member state assembly will likely be held in November.
BJP and its allies Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-headed NCP are partners in the ruling Mahayuti coalition in the state.
“More than Rs 3.5 lakh crore worth of drugs have been seized at the Mundra port in Gujarat. Why does Modi not speak about the drugs found at the Adani-controlled port,” he asked.
The Sena (UBT) alleged that a drug ring kingpin named Lalit Patil had managed to escape from Pune’s state-run Sassoon Hospital despite being in police custody. The drug racket has links with people in Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s cabinet, he claimed.
Cabinet minister Sanjay Rathod has faced allegations of being responsible for the death of a young woman in Pune but he is allowed to share the dais with PM Modi, said Raut, referring to the PM’s visit to Washim in the Vidarbha region on Saturday.
“Why is there no comment over it,” he asked.
Raut also taunted the BJP over the frequent paroles of Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. “Whenever there are elections in Punjab and Haryana, he is released on parole, and he seeks votes for the BJP. How does Modi tolerate it,” he asked.
He said Modi has been frequently visiting Maharashtra, where Mahayuti performed poorly in the Lok Sabha polls winning only 17 of the 48 seats in the state. “Modi inaugurated portions of the same Metro line in Pune six times. I fail to understand how he does it,” added Raut. PTI ND NR
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