BJP questions land deals in Maharashtra; Shiv Sena promises fitting reply

Sena’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said BJP is “shethji’s party (a party of the wealthy)” and Somaiya a “vyapari (trader)”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), stepping up its attack on ally-turned-rival Shiv Sena, on Friday alleged that there are irregularities in various land deals by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which the latter heads. The Sena, rubbishing all the allegations, said that a fitting reply will be given to the BJP leaders making these claims after Diwali and that they should be ready to face the “consequences”.

While one of the alleged deals includes a 7-acre land proposed to be acquired by the BMC for a 5,000-bed hospital in Mulund, the other is pertaining to a land at Dahisar. The party also claimed that the mayor has illegally possessed some flats of a slum rehabilitation project (SRA). Apart from these allegations, the BJP said also raised questions over a land purchased by Rashmi Thackeray, the wife of chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and Manisha Waikar, the wife of Sena legislator Ravindra Waikar, from the late interior designer Anvay Naik, who died of suicide in 2018.

The BJP has also approached the Lokayukta, urging an inquiry into the deals pertaining to the land parcels in Mulund and Dahisar.

According to Somaiya, the process to acquire the land at Mulund for the infectious diseases hospital moved at a “suspicious pace” for the “benefit” of a particular builder. He alleged that the cost of the land is around Rs3,000 crore and it was proposed to be acquired without any scrutiny, with the sole intention of “favouring’ the builder who owns it. The estimated cost of the construction of proposed hospital is Rs12,000 crore. Somaiya said that after his petition to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari for action, he approached the Lokayukta and he has been assured that the due process for an inquiry has begun.

The BMC has denied any wrongdoing in the matter. “We floated an expression of interest (EoI) and had received proposals over it. We have not purchased any land parcel yet. After going through technicalities, the [BMC] commissioner wrote to state government to take up the project,” a senior BMC official.

In another allegation, Somaiya said that a 9-acre land in Dahisar was purchased by BMC for Rs349 crore. He alleged that the civic body made the deal with a private builder last year on November 29, a day after Thackeray was sworn-in as the CM. “The builder purchased the land in 2010 for a mere Rs2.55 crore. The land parcel has various reservations including a garden and a road that’s encroached upon. Three former consecutive commissioners struck down the proposal to buy the land from Nishalp Reality. But the BMC, under pressure from Thackerays, purchased it for Rs349. The builder has now demanded Rs550 crore more claiming that the earlier valuation was faulty,” said Somaiya.

Meanwhile, Somaiya also produced nine more 7/12 extracts in the land purchase transaction of the 9.35-acre Raigad land by Rashmi Thackeray and Manisha Waikar. According to Somaiya, Rashmi Thackeray and Manisha Waikar jointly purchased the land in Korlai village in March 2014 through 30 land transactions.

“Rashmi had 40 land transactions in total, of which 30 are for the land owned by Naik. The land is not fit for agriculture as mentioned in the records and hence the Thackerays should clarify what was the purpose behind purchasing the land, which is close to the sea. They should also reveal if they had any business partnership with Naiks,” he said.

A spokesperson representing Thackeray family said that the Sena leaders have been authorised to speak on the issues.

Refuting the allegations, the Sena said the BJP was attempting to change the direction of the probe into Naik’s suicide. Party’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut dared Somaiya to produce evidence on the land deals between the Thackerays and the Naiks. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Raut referred to BJP as “shethji’s party (a party of the wealthy)” and called Somaiya a “vyapari (trader)”.

“The spokespersons of the shethji party are not ready to speak about a Marathi woman who lost her husband. She and her daughter are crying for justice and when we are trying to ensure that they get justice, these people are making allegations to divert the direction of the probe into the suicide,” Raut said.

He added that the BJP wants to protect the three-accused, including Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, in Naik’s abetment to suicide case. “Shethji’s party wants to protect the accused,” he said referring to Goswami and two others.

The Sena leader in no uncertain terms warned Somaiya to stop levelling allegations without evidence.

“This is a legal deal. Nothing will be proven [in these allegations]. This deal was finalised by a Marathi manoos, does it prick his eyes? Somaiya claims 21 deals, but show me at least five deals. This is a warning to him.”

Responding to the demand for a probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the alleged land deals, Raut hit back and said, “Why only ED...let there be a probe by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). Go to Interpol, FBI, KGB, Interpol and the United Nations.”

Meanwhile, Ravindra Waikar said, “Somaiya should give proof of the 30 transactions he has been talking about. We have been saying that the land transactions were revealed on all platforms including income tax returns and elections affidavits, from time-to-time. His allegations are baseless and we are ready to face any inquiry.”

Somaiya also accused Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar of illegally possessing a few flats of a slum rehabilitation (SRA) project in Worli. He filed a petition at Bombay high court over the issue and said that the hearing is expected to take place after Diwali.

“Pednekar set-up offices of a company owned by her relatives in the tenements allotted to the original tenants at Gomata Janata Society in Worli. The SRA tenements are neither allowed to be used for commercial purposes nor can be transferred. I have moved the court against the mayor,” he said. HT tried contacting the mayor but her phone was switched off.

Maharashtra transport minister and Sena leader Anil Parab said that Somaiya must be “prepared to face the Sena’s allegations too.” He is known for making baseless allegations and his track record is sufficient to prove this. He has been given the responsibility [by his party] with the task of targeting us. Let him complete his series of allegations. We will respond after Diwali. But he too should be prepared to face our allegations against him.”

The attack on the Thackerays and the Shiv Sena by the BJP is one of the several attempts in the past 11 months after the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by Thackeray came to the power. In August, BJP leaders targeted Thackeray scion and Maharashtra cabinet minister Aaditya by alleging his involvement in the Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR) death case.

The MVA government was also accused of inept handling by the Mumbai Police during the probe into the actor’s death case, which now the CBI has taken over. Prior to that, in April the BJP attacked the state government and held it responsible after two seers and their driver were lynched by a mob at Gadhchinchale village in Palghar. The BJP had alleged mishandling of the case by the police that led to the killing of the three men.

BJP has also been aggressively targeting MVA and its other two ruling parties, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party) over various issues, including handling of agriculture distress, the Covid-19 situation in the state and the crimes against women.