‘CM cancelled foreign tour due to floods in state, not because of a tweet’
Amid criticism by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray over various foreign tours on cards by ministers, Industries Minister Uday Samant on Saturday came to the defence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
Pune
Amid criticism by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray over various foreign tours on cards by ministers, Industries Minister Uday Samant on Saturday came to the defence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who cancelled his UK and Germany trip.
Earlier in the day, Thackeray had alleged that “CM Shinde was going to London, Germany. He was going to Germany to see the highway. I asked him - what would you do here? When asked about the agenda of his tour, the Chief Minister cancelled the tour within 30 minutes.”
Thackeray, while slamming the Shinde government over foreign tours, wanted to know why industries minister Uday Samant was going to Davos four months ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) there. Thackeray also said deputy chairperson of the Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe led a 50-member delegation on a study tour abroad.
“What research was conducted during this tour? Farmers are suffering here, and money is being squandered in this way,” Thackeray alleged.
Samant, while speaking in Pune on Saturday said that Shinde had been instrumental in bringing about good investments in Maharashtra, which is the leading state in the country in terms of attracting investors.
“CM Shinde has postponed his foreign tour because of the cloudburst occurrence in Nagpur, as well as current agitations in the state. Reports of him cancelling the tour due to someone’s tweet are absurd,” Samant said.
Samant further said that he will be going to London with cabinet colleague Sudhir Mungantiwar to bring back tiger claws.
“I will remain present for the tiger claw MOU function,” the minister said.
He further stated, “Aditya Thackeray held a press conference this morning. He asked questions about my visit as well as the agreements and investments made in Davos. I am addressing the press conference to counter the false news being spread in society.”
On his proposed Davos visit, Samant said the government signed MoUs worth ₹80,000 crores in 2022. A total of 19 agreements were signed in 2023 and contracts worth ₹1.37 lakh crore have been signed and 70 per cent of the work has been completed, Samant noted.
