At an event organised to celebrate the first anniversary of his government, chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray said that Maharashtra has “never been afraid and it never will be”.
The statement came at a time when a central investigating agency is probing a ruling-party legislator. Thackeray added that the three-party Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government is ready to “dismantle and defeat” political challenges in the future.
Thackeray, along with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, deputy CM Ajit Pawar and state Congress chief and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat unveiled ‘Unstoppable Maharashtra’, a booklet, partially coloured in saffron, which listed out the government’s decisions pertaining to agriculture, education, health, law and order, industries, environment, tourism, food and civil supplies in its first year in power.
The leaders also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) indirectly in their respective addresses.
The MVA government completed a year in power on November 28. Speaking at the event held at the Sahyadri state guest house in Malabar Hill on Thursday, Thackeray said, “The cover of the booklet says ‘Maharashtra has never stopped and never will be stopped’. Similarly, Maharashtra has never been afraid and never will be afraid. We will surely combat the natural calamities, but if somebody tries to draw a political crisis onto us, then Maharashtra will dismantle and defeat it… The government is on firm feet and it will take steps further to solve the issues of people.”
Speaking at the event, Pawar said that the MVA government has taken decisions for the people and farmers, and thus it will have the support of the citizens and will continue to remain in power for years to come.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking at the event, Pawar said that the MVA government has taken decisions for the people and farmers, and thus it will have the support of the citizens and will continue to remain in power for years to come.
{{/usCountry}}“The farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting for the past eight to 10 days. It is because those who are in power do not understand the problems of the farmers. But the farmers in Maharashtra did not come on the streets in the past one year, and that is an achievement of this government,” Pawar said.
Without naming the BJP, Thackeray’s deputy targeted the Opposition in the state and said that several attempts were made to topple the government, but they remained unsuccessful. He said that the state government has no threat till the three leaders – Sonia Gandhi, Pawar and Thackeray – continue on their resolve to run the MVA alliance.
“The Opposition gave a lot of dates…. It said the government will collapse in two months, then in six months. Today, media persons asked me what is the future of this government. I told them, Sonia Gandhi, Pawar saheb and Uddhavji Thackeray have firmly decided to run the MVA…. [and] till [they are together] then there is no threat to the government,” said Ajit Pawar. He added that the government firmly stands by the Common Minimum Programme.
In an apparent reply to his nephew, Sharad Pawar, who spoke after Ajit, said, “The people of the state do not forget the government that works for them. Though the CM speaks less, he is clever and has successfully run a three-party government. I am confident that this government will continue to work for the people for five years but we have to run the government for the next 25 years.”
The CM too was confident that the people of the state back his government. He also slammed the Opposition for “practising politics” during a pandemic and calamities. “Natural calamities are not in our hands. But when politics is practised during natural calamities, it is quite anguishing… This government has not come together for politics. In the beginning, we were called a three-wheeler [auto rickshaw] government, but they never realised there is a fourth wheel, which is the people’s faith [in the government],” said Thackeray.