Don't contribute to Gujarat's development by weakening Maharashtra, says Congress's Nana Patole on Vedanta-Foxconn plant row

The Opposition Congress on Tuesday accused the Eknath ShindeBharatiya Janata Party BJP government in Maharashtra of misleading people on shifting of a mega VedantaFoxconn semiconductor project to Gujarat from the stateMaharashtra Congress president Nana Patole maintained the Rs 154 lakh crore plant has been handed over to Gujarat ignoring the economic interest of the state where it was originally plannedA blamegame started in Maharashtra following the announcement last week that a joint venture semiconductor project of Indian conglomerate Vedanta and Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn proposed to be set up near Pune city earlier will come up in GujaratDont contribute to the development of Gujarat by weakening Maharashtra Patole told reporters hereDeputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should answer if he is the leader of Maharashtra or Gujarat the Congress legislator askedAccusing the Shindeled government of misleading people on the VedantaFoxconn issue Patole targeted Fadnavis for his statement Gujarat is not Pakistan it is our younger brotherThe government seems to be supporting the transfer of the project from Maharashtra to Gujarat If there is investment in Gujarat no one is against it but this project from Maharashtra has been handed over to Gujarat We will not tolerate if attempts are made to weaken Maharashtra and development of Gujarat is encouraged Patole warnedLast week Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said after assuming charge in Juneend he had met Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal and the Maharashtra government offered a package to the company similar to what it was getting in Gujarat but he was told a decision to move the project to the neighbouring state was in its final stagesAlso Read VedantaFoxconn Aaditya Thackeray hits back at Devendra Fadnavis says Maharashtra also no PakistanPatole said the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government of which the Congress was a constituent had offered a slew of incentives for setting up of the semiconductor project in MaharashtraFor this project the MVA government had given a big package of concessions in many respects including electricity bill water land Maharashtra is the first choice of industries for investment the Congress leader saidPatole maintained central government data shows Maharashtra was the top destination for investments in the country during 201419 and the state continues to enjoy that position even nowAsked about results of gram panchayat elections announced on Monday Patole claimed Congress supported candidates have emerged victorious in 175 such villagelevel rural bodies in the stateElections were held on Sunday for more than 500 gram panchayats across 16 districts in the state The polls were held on nonparty basisThe BJP is claiming victory by giving false information about results of the gram panchayat elections Maha Vikas Aaghadi allies Shiv Sena NCP along with the Congress have posted a landslide victory in these elections The Congress supported nominees alone has won in 175 gram panchayats with huge margins the MPCC president saidPatole said the BJPs IT cell is giving wrong information about gram panchayat election results and its claim of a major victory was completely falseThe BJP is patting itself on the back by claiming to have won most of the seats We have gathered information from all districts where polls were held and it is clear the Congress party has achieved huge success Results show people have faith in the Congress party he saidPatole however added that gram panchayat elections are not contested on party symbolsLike the Bharat Jodo Yatra a mass contact drive currently on under Congress MP Rahul Gandhis leadership a Samvidhan Bachao Rally Save the Constitution rally will be organized in every district of Maharashtra in the coming days he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever