Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde launched a veiled attack on Uddhav and Raj Thackeray while claiming that Mumbaikars would witness pothole-free roads in the city for the next 25 years. The deputy chief minister slammed Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav allegedly for siding with contractors and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj for opportunistically raking up the issue of Mumbai’s separation from Maharashtra in the run-up to the polls.

Shinde stated that for them (the Mahyuti government), `Mumbai first` was the policy, but for others, a reference to Sena UBT, the policy was always contractor-first. “By December 2027, all roads in Mumbai will be of cement concrete. Mumbai will be pothole-free for the next 25 years. Road maintenance costs will not be there,” the deputy chief minister added.

Shinde was replying, on Thursday, to queries raised by the members of the Legislative Assembly in debate held under rule 293 of the Maharashtra Legislature, which allows members to deliberate on matters of public concern.