Winter session eve: Govt concessions for Adani’s Dharavi project spark war of words

Thackeray, who has announced that he will lead a march to the Adani group’s Mumbai office, said that several suspicious decisions had been taken to favour the developer, for instance, the government’s making it mandatory for builders seeking TDR to buy 40 percent from the Adani group

NAGPUR: On the eve of the state legislature’s winter session, the ruling and opposition parties locked horns over the Dharavi redevelopment project being carried out by the Adani group. In response to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray’s charge that the government was granting concessions to benefit Adani, chief minister Eknath Shinde said the decisions related to TDR had been taken to bring in transparency in its sale. He also insisted that the tender documents for handing over the project to Adani had been finalised by the previous Thackeray-led government.

Nagpur: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar during a press conference ahead of the Winter session of Maharashtra Assembly, in Nagpur, Wednesday. (PTI)

Thackeray, who has announced that he will lead a march to the Adani group’s Mumbai office, said that several suspicious decisions had been taken to favour the developer, for instance, the government’s making it mandatory for builders seeking TDR to buy 40 percent from the Adani group. Both Thackeray and the Congress have alleged that the tweaking in the TDR sale clause has been done for the developer to reap profits.

The issue is expected to be raised by the opposition in the winter session beginning from Thursday. Responding to the charges, Fadnavis alleged that Thackeray always opposed development projects only when in the opposition, pointing out the Nanar refinery project as an example. “In the Dharavi redevelopment project, the first bidding process was cancelled by the Thackeray government and the second was introduced by his government by changing the tender documents,” he said. “We have been following the terms and conditions changed by his government. Despite this, he has been opposing the project.”

Both Fadnavis and Shinde charged Thackeray with being “anti-poor” for opposing the Dharavi project. Fadnavis said the Shinde government had brought transparency into the sale of TDR. “TDR will no longer be sold at ‘book’ and will have to be sold on a dynamic digital platform in a transparent manner,” he said.

The opposition on Wednesday boycotted the chief minister’s customary tea party, alleging that the government had failed to address the agrarian crisis, deteriorating law and order, drug-related crimes, riots and widespread corruption in the government sector. Leaders from the opposition parties, notably the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar), and Peasants and Workers Party, sat together in the afternoon and vowed to effectively raise these concerns in both the houses during the session.

Opposition leader Vijay Wadettiwar, speaking to the media later, emphasised the government’s failure to tackle agrarian distress, especially after the untimely rains, hailstorms, and drought. He also pointed out that the government has not provided the promised ₹50,000 financial assistance to farmers who suffered crop losses last year.

Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Wadettiwar claimed that 22,746 farmers in Maharashtra had committed suicide due to agrarian distress and indebtedness. He also criticised the government for selectively declaring drought in only 40 tehsils, alleging political motivation behind the choices.

Responding to the allegations of a high crime rate in the state, Fadnavis said that the number of criminal cases had reduced to 3.74 lakh in 2022 from 3.903 lakh in 2020 during the Thackeray government’s tenure. “It is not true that Maharashtra is number two in crime,” he said. “We stand at the 17th position in murders and 17th in crime against women among all states in the country. The NCRB report has been interpreted wrongly by the opposition.”