Opposition corners Eknath Shinde government as ‘flight’ of mega projects continues

NCP MP Supriya Sule demands immediate all-party meeting; Uddhav faction MP demads Mr. Shinde’s resignation

After the alleged loss of the Tata-Airbus military aircraft project to neighbouring Gujarat, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Sunday cornered the ruling Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government over reports of French multinational company Safran — which manufactures aircraft and rocket engines — allegedly moving its aircraft engine repair and maintenance project to Hyderabad from Nagpur.

Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant, a key member of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction known as the ‘Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)’, has demanded CM Eknath Shinde’s immediate resignation.

Mr. Sawant claimed that Safran’s aircraft engine repair and maintenance project was to come up in Nagpur’s Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport (MIHAN), but had shifted to Hyderabad owing to administrative delays like land acquisition.

“The Safran project had a preliminary investment of ₹1,185 crore and could have helped provide hundreds of jobs. Despite MIHAN having a conducive atmosphere for businesses, how is it that these mega projects are moving out from there? It is especially surprising given that Air India already has an ongoing project involving the maintenance and overhauling of aircraft…this proves that the Shinde-Fadnavis government does not have the capability to administer the State. The CM must resign immediately in order to let Maharashtra move forward,” said Mr. Sawant, terming the current scenario “extremely serious”.

He further said that the much-touted ‘double engine growth’ being propagated by the BJP had come a cropper in Maharashtra where one of its engines was ‘punctured’.  

Urging the ruling Balasahebanchi Sena (Shinde faction)- BJP government to stop finger-pointing over the loss of big-ticket projects and begin thinking in a statesmanlike manner for Maharashtra’s progress, Nationalist Congress party (NCP) Supriya Sule has demanded that Mr. Shinde immediately call an all-party meeting to discuss the flight of industries from the State.

“There are contradictory statements emanating from the State Industries Minister [Uday Samant] and the CM himself each time that the State is losing such a project.  Instead of pointing fingers, it is high time the government think about how to get future investments in the State. This is not a personal matter but the question of Maharashtra’s development is at stake. The CM must call a special Assembly session to discuss this issue and the matter of declaring a ‘wet drought’ in the State. It does not matter how long this session lasts but he must take all parties and MLAs into confidence,” said Ms. Sule, the MP from Baramati.