Aaditya Thackeray slams Eknath Shinde over Tata-Airbus project, says 'Double engine' government fought?
New Delhi: Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray slammed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde for the loss of the Tata-Airbus project and said Maharashtra is going backward because of his "betrayal" and "monstrous ambition". Addressing a press conference, former Maharashtra minister Aaditya said his Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had "done an absolutely good job" with the Center as compared to the current government. He said that when we talk about double-engine government in the time of the MVA government, our double-engine government with the center worked perfectly well.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) specifically uses the term "double engine government" for the government of the party or its ally at the Center and in the state. Aditya said that after this unconstitutional government came to power, an engine failed and whatever investment was to come to Maharashtra is going to other states. He further said that Subhash Desai, who served as the state's industries minister from 2014-2022, invested Rs 6.6 lakh crore during his tenure.
"When we went to Davos, I, Desai, and Nitin Raut could have invested Rs 80,000 crore. He said that the important aspect is that it was the same central government. So if the MVA government and the Center can work and bring investment to Maharashtra, why has their engine failed?
The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government is facing criticism after a consortium of European aviation firm Airbus and the Tata group selected Vadodara in Gujarat for a Rs 22,000-crore project for military aircraft manufacturing.
Aditya claimed that this was the fourth major project for which states other than Maharashtra were selected. He said the Vedanta-Foxconn Semiconductor Project, Medical Device Park, Bulk Drugs Park, and Tata-Airbus projects were planned in Maharashtra, but now they have chosen other states. “No investor has faith in the government. Be it law and order, investment, or agriculture, the focus is only on politics.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Industries Minister Uday Samant on Saturday said the Uddhav Thackeray-led erstwhile MVA government did not take any decision on the Tata-Airbus military transport aircraft project. Samant said there was no meeting with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, the state government's nodal investment promotion agency, on the project, while talks were held "locally" with Mihan, which will be called the multi-modal international passenger and cargo hub in Nagpur. Also called the airport.
