MNS chief, in closed-door meeting, says bullet train, Vadhavan Port are part of attempt to weaken city
MNS president Raj Thackeray appealed to workers not to worry about how many seats the party got while contesting the BMC poll. FiLE PIC/ASHISH RAJE
Raj Thackeray, chief of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), has said the party must prepare for a bigger and longer fight to save Mumbai. Speaking at a closed-door meeting of party leaders and workers, Thackeray said projects such as the bullet train terminal planned at Bandra (near Dharavi) and the proposed Vadhavan Port in Palghar are deliberate attempts to shift business away from Mumbai and weaken the city.
According to party sources, in a veiled reference to the Adani Group and the BJP, Thackeray hinted that big corporate interests were trying to take control of Mumbai with help from the ruling regime.
The Adani Group is leading the Dharavi redevelopment project through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Navbharat Mega Developers Pvt Ltd. The project is being carried out as a public-private partnership, in which the Adani-owned company holds an 80 per cent stake, while the Maharashtra government holds the remaining 20 per cent stake.
“We need to stay united and fight tooth and nail to stop our rivals and protect Mumbai,” Thackeray is said to have told party workers at the Rangsharda Auditorium in Bandra on Monday. The MNS chief also cautioned party workers that the fight ahead would not be easy and that it would be a long and difficult battle. However, he added that victory could be assured if everyone stayed united and remained committed to the party’s goals.
Initially, mediapersons were allowed inside the auditorium to cover the meeting. However, after reporters were asked to leave, these remarks were shared by the MNS president in a closed-door interaction with party workers.
Aware that many party workers may not get a chance to contest the civic polls because some seats would go to alliance partners under the seat-sharing formula, Thackeray called a meeting of party leaders and workers to calm their concerns and send out a clear message of unity.
In the meeting at Bandra, Thackeray appealed to party workers not to worry about how many seats the MNS got while contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election in alliance with the Shiv Sena (UBT).
Senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said the party chief had asked cadres and leaders to work wholeheartedly for alliance candidates, whether they belong to the MNS, the Shiv Sena (UBT), or the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar. “All three parties are contesting the civic polls together, and workers should focus on winning, not seat numbers,” Nandgaonkar told reporters after the meeting.
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