Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday claimed big-ticket projects had moved away from the state due to "inefficiency" of the Eknath Shinde-led government.
Addressing an NCP meeting in the temple town of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district, Ajit Pawar said lakhs of youths have missed employment opportunities in Maharashtra because of the state government's ineptitude and claimed there was "tremendous anger" against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde among people.
NCP president Sharad Pawar, who is undergoing treatment in a Mumbai hospital, joined the meeting through video conferencing.
Ajit Pawar said Shinde, who took oath on June 30, had told the state Assembly that investment up to Rs 4 lakh crore will come to Maharashtra with Vedanta-Foxconn's semiconductor plant, but he is now blaming the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for the Rs 1.5 lakh crore project going to adjoining Gujarat.
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''The Shinde government is not being truthful with people. It is because of failure of this government that projects are moving away from Maharashtra. As long as this government is in power, unemployment will only grow," said the former deputy CM.
Ajit Pawar maintained the Opposition has been demanding declaration of a 'wet drought' in the state due to crop losses in excessive rains in October, but the government isn't doing anything. He alleged many leaders from the NCP are being offered inducements to leave the party, which was a constituent of the MVA government.
"Don't fall prey to such tactics. Common citizens haven't liked the way the Shiv Sena's name and poll symbol were frozen (following a rebellion in the party). There is tremendous anger against Eknath Shinde among the people," he said.
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The NCP leader said even MLA Bacchu Kadu, who is supporting the Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, has opined that the chief minister wasn't right in staking claim over the Shiv Sena. "Monstrous ambition is not good. Shinde is not capable of bringing big-ticket projects to the state," the former finance minister maintained.
Ajit Pawar asked NCP cadres to start preparing for elections to local bodies in the state, including civic corporations in Mumbai, Pune and Thane, among other cities, and not to wait for announcement of poll schedule.
(With PTI Inputs)
