Mumbai: Opposition trains guns at Maharashtra govt over Gujarat CM's investor roadshow

Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aaditya Thackeray & Priyanka Chaturvedi

The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Sharad Pawar, have taken swipes at the Maharashtra government following Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel's visit to Mumbai for an investor roadshow ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit. The relocation of major industrial projects from Maharashtra to Gujarat was a contentious issue last year.

Aaditya Thackeray questioned why Patel did not just contact the "unconstitutional" chief minister of Maharashtra and ask them to transfer more industries from Maharashtra to Gujarat. According to Thackeray, the Eknath Shinde-led state government had already shifted projects, including Vedanta-Foxconn, Airbus-Tata, and Bulk Drugs Park, from Maharashtra to Gujarat. Thackeray criticized Shinde for only visiting Delhi for personal reasons and accused him of lavish spending on his trip to Davos.

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"Instead of coming to Mumbai to woo industrialists, Patel should have simply called up the 'illegal' chief minister of Maharashtra and "asked them to send more industries to Gujarat from Maharashtra," he said on X

"The Mindhe-BJP regime has already sent Vedanta Foxconn, Airbus Tata, Bulk Drugs Park and many more industries/ investments to Guj (originally coming to Mh). While CMs of other states come to Mumbai regularly for such road shows, the illegal CM only goes to Delhi for his own selfish reasons. The only one trip he showed as an investment, was Davos where they spent almost 40 crores of money in 28 hours," he further wrote (sic).

Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member, echoed similar sentiments on X, suggesting that the Maharashtra CM and his deputies were facilitating industries' move to Gujarat. "Don't understand why the CM of Gujarat took the trouble to come to Mumbai for a Vibrant Gujarat event when the unconstitutional Maharashtra CM and his 2 deputies are already serving the state of Gujarat by driving away industries from the state of Maharashtra into Gujarat," she tweeted.

Mahesh Tapase, the NCP's (Sharad Pawar faction) chief spokesperson, criticized the Shinde government for not addressing Gujarat's efforts to lure businesses away from Maharashtra and questioned why the state's leadership had not launched a "Magnetic Maharashtra" campaign in Gujarat to attract investments. He further asked whether CM Shinde was hesitant due to worry that the central leadership of the BJP might threaten the current political status they hold.

Clyde Crasto, the NCP's national spokesperson, called for a "Vibrant Maharashtra Summit" in Gujarat, emphasizing the need for equitable prosperity. He said, "When will the CM of Maharashtra organise a Vibrant Maharashtra Summit in Gujarat? If the CM of Gujarat can come here for business, why can't they go there, or does the BJP only want Gujarat's prosperity?"