Raj Thackeray calls for massive agitation over delay in Mumbai-Goa highway

Raj Thackeray accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of threatening people at gunpoint to join them. He claimed that Ajit Pawar joined the ruling alliance not for development as he claimed but to avoid being jailed on corruption charges.

PANVEL: Raj Thackeray, leader of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), asked his party workers to launch a massive agitation over the decade-long delay in the construction of Mumbai-Goa highway. He said that the stir should be such that not just the present government, but it should put the fear of such protests in the future ones as well.

MNS Chief Raj Thackeray speaks during "Nirdhar Melava" on potholes-ridden Mumbai- Goa Highway, at Krantiveer Vasudev Balwant Phadke Auditorium, in Panvel, on Wednesday. (Bachchan Kumar / HT PHOTO)

Thackeray, who was in Panvel on Wednesday to address party workers during ‘Mumbai-Goa highway Niradhaar Melawa’ to chart their future course of action over the delayed project, also spoke about recent political developments in the state.

Thackeray accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of threatening people at gunpoint to join them. He claimed that Ajit Pawar joined the ruling alliance not for development as he claimed but to avoid being jailed on corruption charges.

Directing his partymen, Thackeray said, “Everyone come together as a party for the Mumbai-Goa highway agitation. People from Panvel to Sawantwadi, will all have to join the agitation. Support each other wherever possible.”

He added, “Remember that we do not want to trouble the common man. However, the agitation should be such that the government is forced to act, and people get a good road at the earliest.

“The agitation should be such that not just this government, even the future ones should fear that this can happen if they do not act in people’s interest.”

“I am with you in the agitation. Call me wherever you want. Start the agitation at the earliest so that the government wakes up,” said Thackeray.

He said, “The Mumbai-Goa highway has been in the making for over 10 years. It started when the Congress government was in power. There has been a Shiv Sena-BJP government after that, and governments of God knows who all that came together.”

Thackeray said that he had spoken to Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister, and Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for road transport and highways, on the Mumbai-Goa highway and had got several excuses even as over ₹15,500 crore have been spent so far on the project while 2,500 people have lost lives in the last 10 years.

Raising doubts over the reason for the delay, he said, “Land is being usurped in the Konkan region by outsiders while the original landowners are being duped into selling them for peanuts and becoming their employees. A 5,000-acre belt has been taken. There is a need to investigate who has taken it.”

Thackeray said, “Goa doesn’t allow sale of farmland and even if bought, it can be used only for agriculture. The BJP chief minister of Goa said he doesn’t want a Gurgaon in Goa. He was talking about north Indian people coming over. If Raj Thackeray says the same, he becomes anti-national. You can’t purchase land in several other states as well, but Maharashtra is for all to exploit.”

Commenting on the incident concerning his son Amit at a toll booth, which was vandalised by MNS party workers, Thackeray said, “The BJP asked us to learn to make roads and erect toll booths first. I feel the BJP should first learn to build its own party without having to split other parties.

“They hold people at gunpoint and bring them to their party. These people then sleep in their cars. There is unprecedented shamelessness in Maharashtra.”

Targetting the government over the issue of potholes, Thackeray asked, “Why has Chandrayaan-3 been sent to the moon at such a huge cost to look for craters when it could have been sent to Maharashtra, where it would have found potholes everywhere.”

“People have been suffering because of potholes and traffic jams all these years and I am surprised you still vote for them. Why are they not taught a lesson and made to sit at home? What have all the MLAs and the MPs of the region been doing?” asked Thackeray.

He claimed, “Around 350 people have died on Samruddhi highway since it has been opened to the public. There is no fencing there still and animals venture on the highway where vehicles are speeding. The toll, of course, has started. It is pay and die.”

Speaking about the Ajit Pawar-faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) joining the ruling alliance in the state, Thackeray said, “They claimed that he (Pawar) had joined the government on a development agenda. Why are you lying? The PM spoke of the ₹70,000 crore corruption in Maharashtra a week earlier and they rushed to join the government.”

Thackeray said, “(Chhagan) Bhujbal must have told them what all happened inside the jail. Must have asked them not to go there, it’s better here itself.”

Thackeray said, “If you want a change for the better, give the power to me once. Check my record in Nashik, where the media that reports on potholes from all over the state can’t find one.

“We constructed roads there which do not have potholes yet. That means good roads can be constructed. Other roads do not last so that new contracts can be awarded, and money made.”