Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: Fadnavis calls Pawar 'owner of fake narrative factory'

Pune: Calling NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar "owner of a fake narrative factory," Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday sought to refute his claim that industrial projects were being taken to Gujarat from the state.

Speaking at an election rally in Baramati, Pawar had claimed that late industrialist Ratan Tata wanted the FAL and Airbus project to come up in Maharashtra, and a 500-acre plot was earmarked for it in Nagpur MIDC during the UPA government.

When Narendra Modi took over as prime minister, he asked Tata to set up the factory in Gujarat, Pawar had claimed.

"Lately, a factory of fake narrative has started, and I am surprised to see that the veteran leader from Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar, is behaving like the owner of a fake narrative factory. Pawar saheb, it is not expected from you," said Fadnavis, speaking at a campaign rally at Chinchwad in the district.

"He is saying that businesses are not coming to Maharashtra, industrialisation is not happening in the state but in reality, Pune district is our industrial district, it is our manufacturing and IT hub and we are now transforming it into a technology hub," the BJP leader added.

Fadnavis also claimed that of the total foreign direct investment coming to the country, 52 percent has come to Maharashtra alone. "This is as per a NITI Aayog and RBI report," he said.

From 2014 to 2019, there was a BJP-led government and in that period, Maharashtra was at the number one position as far as investment is concerned, but when the MVA government came, Karnataka topped the chart and then Gujarat surged ahead, Fadnavis said.

"When we came to power again, I said not to worry, we are going to overtake Gujarat, and I am happy to state that in 2022-23 and 2023-24, Maharashtra retained at the number one position," he said.

He criticised Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray for being "spokespersons" of Gujarat, with their claims that Gujarat was ahead.

Fadnavis also criticised NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule, calling her the "second owner" of the fake narrative factory.

"She has been repeatedly saying that companies are moving out of Pune's Hinjawadi IT Park....16 companies went out of Hinjawadi but they did not go outside the state, they relocated to tier II cities of Maharashtra," he said.

Of these 16 firms, 13 companies left Hinjawadi IT Park during the MVA government, Fadnavis further said.

"They moved to Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar," he said.

The question will be asked why infrastructure was not ramped up in the last 50 years when Sharad Pawar dominated the politics of Pune district, Fadnavis said.

At a rally in Parvati area of Pune city earlier in the day, the BJP leader claimed that the Opposition MVA alliance will stop all the schemes of the present government including the Ladki Bahin Yojana.

"When we introduced Ladki Bahin Yojana, the opposition criticised us. They claimed the scheme is deceptive and will not work. But approximately Rs 2.5 crore have been deposited in the accounts of our sisters (women) till November," Fadnavis said.

He would like to tell women that their "real brothers" are depositing money into their accounts but their "step brothers" are trying to close the scheme, he added.

"One leader from MVA went to the High Court against the Ladki Bahin Yojana," he noted.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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