Davos not a forum to engage with local builders, contractors: Aaditya Thackeray’s veiled dig at CM Devendra Fadnavis

Says WEF not a platform for photo-ops or headline MoUs

The WEF in Davos is not a rat race for photographs and investment announcements, but is about substantive engagement, the former Maharashtra minister claimed.

“At such a forum, we cannot be occupied with engaging with builders and contractors from back home who are seeking permissions from our local self-governments. Instead, their presence should be leveraged to further the state’s agenda globally,” he said, in a veiled dig at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was attending the WEF.

Calls for moving beyond MoUs and investment figures

Thackeray said it was necessary to move beyond the outdated idea of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and headline-grabbing investment figures, adding that such an approach was fashionable in India a decade ago.

“An annual meeting that brings together public leaders, investors, ideators and scientists is a space where geopolitics converges with themes such as artificial intelligence and much more. At such a forum, we cannot be busy engaging with builders and contractors from back home who are seeking permissions from our local self-governments,” Thackeray said.

Fadnavis highlights MoUs worth Rs 30 lakh crore at Davos

Maharashtra has signed MoUs worth Rs 30 lakh crore at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which could generate up to 40 lakh jobs across sectors including industry, services, agriculture and technology, Fadnavis had said from Davos last week.

Thackeray said the forum should be utilised to connect with the world and advance the state’s broader agenda.

Sanjay Raut questions Davos trips and expenses

“I can promise that as a leader of the Opposition party, I will not criticise the chief minister for not making any local or Indian MoU announcements from Davos, as long as it is evident that the visit is genuinely meaningful in terms of advancing our national and state interests through dialogue at a global level,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said.

The WEF is a platform to engage, learn, speak, interact, understand, assess and read between the lines when the world’s most powerful, influential and perhaps most out-of-the-box people and ideas come together, he said.

“What makes this junket of our chief ministers unbearable is seeing senior leaders meeting other senior leaders from neighbouring states, airport welcome photographs that no other global leaders indulge in (without even offering much to the diaspora), attempts to craft a pan-India image for a national leadership campaign, and then announcements related to permissions for builders and institutions — which is the basic administrative responsibility of any government — instead of chief ministers speaking to the world in a more engaging manner,” Thackeray said, in an apparent jibe at Fadnavis.

The Maharashtra chief minister was welcomed by the Brihan Maharashtra Mandal in Zurich upon his arrival in Switzerland. He also met Union ministers at the WEF.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut had demanded that the travel expenses of leaders attending Davos be disclosed to the public, reported PTI.

“Chief ministers from various states in India are having a picnic in Davos,” Raut had said, reported PTI.

The Davos conference is ridiculous from an Indian perspective, Raut had said last week.

“If you want a break, take a holiday. If you want to meet local investors and sign MoUs, do it at home. If you want to meet party colleagues, reserve it for party conventions,” he said, reported PTI.

“For Davos, use every resource, every contact and every person from back home present there to advance our national interest, ideate, and bring back just one thing — what is next, and how India and our respective states fit into that picture,” Raut said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)