Shinde alleges Thackerays’ hand in BMC corruption during Covid-19

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde launched an attack on the Thackeray family, accusing them of corruption in BMC's Covid-19 contracts and defending concessions given to the Adani Group in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project. Shinde alleged that a front company was given contracts at the behest of a Thackeray faction leader, and that the company had no experience in setting up an oxygen plant. He also made corruption allegations regarding the purchase of khichadi packets and Remdesivir injections. Shinde's offensive comes after attacks on his government by the Thackeray faction.

NAGPUR: The concluding day of the legislature’s winter session saw chief minister Eknath Shinde launch a frontal attack on the Thackeray family with regard to alleged corruption in the BMC’s Covid-19 contracts. He also defended his government’s decision to give concessions to the Adani Group in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), an issue on which the opposition has been on the warpath for some time.

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Shinde declared that a UP-based front company was given 57 contracts worth ₹270 crore in four years at the behest of a Thackeray faction leader. “A contract to set up oxygen plants during the pandemic was given to Romin Chheda, a representative of Highway Construction Company, by obtaining a roaming power of attorney,” he said. “The company was picked with the blessings of Aaditya Raja (Aaditya Thackeray) and Varun Raja (Varun Sardesai).”

The CM said that the company had no experience in setting up an oxygen plant but despite this, the bid amount, barring two percent, was credited to Chheda’s account. He added that though the company completed the project in October instead of meeting the July deadline, on paper the date was put down as August. “The company thus paid a penalty of only ₹3 crore instead of ₹9 crore,” he said. “It was subsequently awarded more contracts worth ₹80 crore on the basis of this experience.”

The CM said that Chheda owned a cloth store in Borivali but with the blessings of Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders, got BMC contracts beginning with the penguin park in the civic body’s Byculla Zoo. “This was followed by a robotic zoo, a 5-D theatre, an administrative office, and animal and bird cages among other things,” he said. “Later it was given contracts to supply water purifiers to BMC schools and for housekeeping in a Juhu hospital. The maintenance of the air-conditioners in various civic hospitals and the Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma centre was also given to it.”

Shinde also alleged that the rotten oxygen plants resulted in Covid-19 patients suffering from black fungus and losing their eyes. “But the Thackerays did not care, as they surrender before the tender,” he said. “All this was happening when the common man in Mumbai was struggling to save his life.”

Other corruption allegations pulled out of Shinde’s hat included the allegedly inflationary prices in the purchase of khichadi packets supplied to the poor by the BMC during Covid-19 as well as Remdesivir injections. “The contract for the latter was given at the behest of Thackeray to Hetero Lab,” he said. “While other municipal corporations purchased Remdesivir at ₹650 per injection, the BMC spent more than double, causing a loss of ₹6 crore to its exchequer.”

Shinde’s offensive on the Thackerays has come in the wake of the aggressive attacks on his government by the Thackeray faction, ranging from the escape of a drug racket kingpin from a Pune hospital to concessions granted to the Adani Group for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). On December 16, Uddhav Thackeray had led an all-party protest against the government decisions in Dharavi.

Speaking on the DRP and the allegations of undue advantage to the Adani group, Shinde said the bidding process for DRP was implemented in a transparent manner. “The bidding process went on for 45 days, and it was open to all players at the global level,” he said. “I was part of the MVA government (led by Uddhav Thackeray) and know many things related to the project. The bid was cancelled during the MVA tenure, as they intended to allot it to a certain company. They are opposing it now because their plan failed.”

Shinde said that his government had not changed any of the tender conditions and the Adani group participated in bidding, following the process transparently. The controversial tweaking of the TDR rules, he claimed, was “inevitable to make the project feasible, as vertical constructions are restricted in Dharavi”. He added that not only the developer but even the state government would get 20 percent of the profit from the DRP.

Reacting to Shinde’s attack, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that the CM ought to see what was beneath his own table. “He must not level such allegations against Aaditya Thackeray,” he said. “This government was formed on the basis of corruption and its members must give an account of the crores of rupees they took.”