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'Samruddhi E-way not for people': Sanjay Raut slams Shinde govt over road accident
The Rajya Sabha MP further took a dig at Sena-BJP government saying that CM Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis only take credits of the work.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackery) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday slammed the Maharashtra government over the tragic road accident on Samruddhi Expressway in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district which claimed 12 lives and left 23 injured, alleging that the BJP took money from the contractors who developed the Samruddhi Mahamarg to break the Shiv Sena.
"Government is not taking accountability. Samruddhi Mahamarg was not built for the people. But it was built for the contractors and the commission, the government was getting from them," Raut said to news agency ANI.
"The 50-50 crores that have been given to Shiv Sena MLAs to break the party is the money of big contractors. BJP, Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde together have committed the scam of Samruddhi Mahamarg. That's why people are dying on that road," he further said.
The Rajya Sabha MP further took a dig at Sena-BJP government saying that CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis only take credits of the work but never take the the responsibility of deaths due to accidents on the expressway. "Why shouldn't the government be booked for culpable homicide?" Raut asked and demanded that the minister concerned be sacked.
Meanwhile, the leader of opposition in the state legislative council Ambadas Danve claimed the accident as "manmade" saying that the mini-bus collided with the truck after an RTO team stopped the vehicle. "A team of the RTO stopped the running truck on the expressway, therefore the minibus collided with the truck", Danve said in a post on X.
At least 12 people were killed and 23 others injured when a speeding mini-bus hit a container in the early hours of Sunday on Samruddhi Expressway in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), police said. There were 35 passengers travelling by the private bus, an official told PTI.
Maharashtra CM has expressed grief over the incident and announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh each to the families of the deceased. He also ordered an inquiry into the accident.
The 701-km-long Samruddhi Expressway, named Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg, connects Mumbai and Nagpur traversing 10 districts including Nagpur, Washim, Wardha, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Aurangabad, Amravati, Jalna, Nashik and Thane.
The 520-km-long first phase of the project, connecting Nagpur to Shirdi, was inaugurated by PM Modi in December 2022, while Shinde and Fadnavis inaugurated the 80-km-long second phase of the stretch from Igatpuri to Shirdi in May this year.
A number of accidents have been reported on the expressway since it became operational.
(With inputs from agencies)
