Mumbai: Amid a fresh controversy over reports that India’s first submarine tourism project is being shifted from Maharashtra to neighbouring Gujarat, the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government on Monday reiterated that there are no such plans.
The submarine tourism project is expected to come up at the nature-rich Nivati in the Sindhudurg district in the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra.
Recently, the Gujarat government has joined hands with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd for a submarine facility at Bet Dwarka, a small island off the coast of Dwarka city with mythological significance - as it is considered a submerged city that was created by Lord Krishna.
After the reports emerged from Gujarat, opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi partners - Congress, Sharad Pawar-Supriya Sule-led NCP group and Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) slammed the Shinde-government for being a mute spectator.
While Shinde issued a denial on Sunday, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who holds the Finance ministry, refused the charges on Monday.
"No projects are going to Gujarat. Don't believe in false news being particularly spread by the opposition," Shinde said, adding that he had spoken to state Industries Minister Uday Samant and state School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar - both of whom are from Konkan - and there is no truth in the news.
“The opposition is trying to spread misinformation ahead of elections,” Pawar said, adding that if that was so, he himself, Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, would not have kept quiet.
“The Sindhudurg project is in no way going to Gujarat. In fact, the Gujarat government is also planning a similar project and so is Kerala,” said BJP MLA Nitesh Rane and accused Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, who was the state Tourism Minister during the MVA project, for derailing the project. “We'll complete the project,” said Rane, who is a legislator from the Sindhudurg district.
A few days ago, Kudal MLA of Shiv Sena (UBT) Vaibhav Naik claimed: “Ever since the Shinde-government took over, there has been no development on this front. Now we've discovered that the project is being shifted to Dwarka in Gujarat.”
On Sunday, Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar of the Congress slammed the Shinde-government over the issue. “How many more projects is this state government going to give to Gujarat?,” he asked. “Another project goes to Gujarat,” said NCP leader Dr Jitendra Awhad.
“The submarine project, which is the first of its kind, is being moved from Sindhudurg district to Gujarat. In the past too, they've taken away a clutch of key projects to Gujarat from Maharashtra,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut referring to the earlier projects like Vedanta-Foxconn, Tata-Airbus, Bulk Drug Park.
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