Mumbai: Speaking out for the first time on the Vedanta-Foxconn project's shift from Maharashtra to Gujarat, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said Gujarat was Maharashtra's "little brother, but you can't let all the projects go there." He alleged that that the Centre hadn't supported the project as expected during the MVA regime.
Uddhav asked what the Shinde-Fadnavis government was doing when the project moved out and added that it seemed they did not even know that the project had slipped out. He asked the current government to "introspect" instead of blaming the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Replying to allegations that the MVA government had let the project slip, Thackeray said, "If you say that the company (Vedanta-Foxconn) had decided to leave Maharashtra long ago during the MVA's term and this didn't happen in just two months, then prove it. There is no point in making allegations. If you have any records or papers to show this, then bring them out."
Uddhav was speaking at the Shiv Sena Bhavan to the Sena's vibhag pramukhs (zonal heads) ahead of his party's annual Dussehra rally. "Just like Gujarat, we also need investments and projects in Maharashtra for our people. The project was coming to Maharashtra, and the MVA government had taken all efforts, but there wasn't enough support from the Centre. But we had still done a lot of groundwork and when the project was to come, the government changed," Thaceray said.
