As he met locals at Basru in Ratnagiri district protesting against the super refinery project, Shiv Sena (UBT) head and former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray lashed out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre asking for a swap between the refinery project and Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus project.
“Ok…if Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL) project is good, please take it to Gujarat…please give back the Vedanta-Foxconn and Tata-Airbus projects to Maharashtra,” Thackeray told a news conference on Saturday in the Ratnagiri district.
“…it appears like ‘rakh’ (ashes) for Maharashtra and ‘rangoli’ in Gujarat...,” said Thackeray.
He said that it was true that the Shiv Sena had protested against the RRPCL in Nanar and the locals were against it.
“When I was the chief minister, the alternate site was proposed at Basru,” he said and added that once it was approved, he personally would have made a presentation to the locals and took them along.
Targeting the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, he said: “They must visit the villages and explain to people about the importance of the project.”
“Stop this dictatorial attitude to push through the project. Or else, the people will uproot your authoritarianism and the state will go up in flames,” warned Thackeray, adding that the villages have been turned into fortresses by the police.
Thackeray was accompanied by Leader of Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve.
Published 06 May 2023, 08:20 IST