MUMBAI: Kick-starting his statewide tour from Vasai on
Maharashtra Day,
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (
MNS)
president Raj Thackeray asked farmers not to give away their land for the proposed bullet train and Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway.
With land acquisitions for the Rs 1.08 lakh crore train project beginning in Maharashtra’s Palghar and Gujarat, Thackeray said that even before the project could take off, rich Gujaratis from Gujarat had started buying properties along the bullet train route.
He said that pressure was also being built on farmers to give away land for the 380-km-six-lane expressway. He urged land owners to retain their property and fight against land acquisitions.
Despite the party having negligible presence in the Vasai-Virar region, Thackeray managed to attract a decent crowd at the Chimaji Appa Ground in Vasai. Targeting ‘outsiders’, he said that the bullet train was only a means to bring Gujarat closer to Mumbai. He said that while the people of Maharashtra are fighting over reservations and caste, outsiders are taking over the state. Quoting ‘Shivaji’, Thackeray said that the Maratha warrior had united people from all castes to fight the Mughals. “Today, we are fighting in the name of caste and that is encouraging outsiders,” said Thackeray, who claimed to have opened his Twitter handle on the state’s Foundation Day. He said that outsiders have been flocking to Maharashtra and most of them are now choosing the Thane district.
Reading out a list of names of people (from Gujarat) buying land in Konkan, Thackeray said that locals were selling their land at throwaway prices in 2013. They did not even know that a refinery project was to come up in Konkan, he said.
Continuing with his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thackeray said that Modi has become the prime minister of Gujarat. Taking a dig at Modi’s 100 per cent electrification feat, Thackeray asked if the country was living in the dark prior to 2014.
Despite the party having negligible presence in the Vasai-Virar region, Thackeray managed to attract a decent crowd at the Chimaji Appa Ground in Vasai. Thackeray is expected to campaign in Palghar, Bhiwandi and Badlapur in the coming days.