Raut claims CM gets 40% kickback for infra projects; Sena denies charge

Raut levelled the allegations in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, in an article titled ‘Mumbai to be gifted but to whom? Battlefield of Dharavi’

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed that chief minister Eknath Shinde receives 40% kickback from Gujarat-based contractors who are awarded big ticket infrastructure projects by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). He also alleged that Shinde, leader of the Shiv Sena, wants to gift land parcels across Mumbai to the Adani group in the name of redevelopment of Dharavi. The Shiv Sena hit back, rubbishing the allegations and saying Raut had ‘lost his mental balance’.

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Raut levelled the allegations in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the Shiv Sena (UBT) mouthpiece Saamana, in an article titled ‘Mumbai to be gifted but to whom? Battlefield of Dharavi’. He also spoke with reporters about the issues.

“A senior official working in Maharashtra met me in Delhi and told me that CM Shinde announces big ticket projects through MMRDA and takes 40% as kickback from Gujarat-based contractors even before issuing orders and tenders. Bringing regions like Palghar, Raigad, Alibaug under the jurisdiction of MMRDA is not development planning, but a ploy to sell Mumbai and half of Maharashtra to the super rich from other states,” Raut alleged in his column, adding that the kickbacks amount to a few thousand crores.

Raut said that the threat of Mumbai being separated from Maharashtra has deepened during the present Mahayuti government’s term and Shinde was made the chief minister by the BJP leadership in Delhi to execute their agenda of looting the city easily.

Referring to the 17th century, when the Portuguese gifted the seven islands comprising Mumbai to the British in dowry, Raut slammed the Shinde government for handing over land in Mumbai to the Adani group in the name of Dharavi redevelopment.

Later, while speaking to reporters, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP questioned recent decisions on land transfers for the Dharavi redevelopment project. “Mumbai is being made into a city of the rich. Prices of flats have reached ₹180 crore, but poor Marathis are still living on the pavement, “ said Raut.

He said that while Shinde and Gujarati businessmen wanted to loot the city in the name of the Dharavi redevelopment project, Shiv Sena (UBT) would not allow it to happen. “The Maharashtra government could have undertaken the redevelopment project on its own but instead, it was given to Gujarati businessmen. Over 1,200 acres of land across Mumbai will also be given to the Adani group for rehabilitation, although all the residents can be rehabilitated within Dharavi itself,” said Raut, alleging the government was intent on gifting the city to Gujarati businessmen.

Sheetal Mhatre, spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, said Raut has no work but to make baseless allegations and there was no need to take him seriously.

“Sanjay Raut has lost his mental balance. Daily, he makes allegations about different leaders without any proof. His allegations about MMRDA works and Dharavi are baseless so there is no need to take him seriously,” said Mhatre.