Shiv Sena slams Devendra Fadnavis remarks over mortgaging state

Fadnavis had made the remark on Wednesday while addressing an event commemorating the foundation day of the Republican Party of India.

The Shiv Sena slammed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday for saying two days ago that he was “ready to mortgage the state” to build the Ambedkar memorial. The Sena said had Ambedkar been alive today, he would have “raised a lathi” against those in power for talking about mortgaging the state.

Fadnavis had made the remark on Wednesday while addressing an event commemorating the foundation day of the Republican Party of India.

The Sena responded in an editorial in Saamana, saying the government has accepted that the state’s economic condition is weak. “It is not proper for anyone to say that the state will be mortgaged. Instead, it would have been practical to cancel the bullet train project and to the control the expenses on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway. While the bullet train is Modi’s dream, the Samruddhi Expressway is Fadnavis’s dream. You have money to fulfill these dreams but are talking about mortgaging the state for Ambedkar memorial?” the editorial said.

It said the rise in fuel prices had led to Rs 1 lakh crore being deposited in government coffers, adding that if the Centre gave Rs 5,000-10,000 crore for the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Ambedkar memorials, then there would be no need to mortgage the state. It said the government should cut down on the thousands of crores being spent on advertisements.