‘1 lakh job lost’: Aaditya Thackeray’s timeline of how Maharashtra lost Vedanta
On July 15, the new government held a crucial meeting with the Vedanta on the project and 10 days later the government announced the chip project, Aaditya Thackeray said on Friday amid a major political row over Vedanta-Foxconn’s MoU with Gujarat.
Former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray took a fresh dig at the loss of the Vedanta-Foxconn deal and provided the timeline of the unexpected turn of events that took place in July after the new government came to power. Maharashtra lost 1 lakh job opportunities, the Shiv Sena leader reiterated amid the ongoing tussle over the Vedanta-Foxconn deal. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said it is a betrayal to the people of Maharashtra. But it is only natural for those who betrayed their own party to serve the ‘Delhi bosses’, she said.
In his fresh attack, Aaditya Thackeray said on July 15, the Maharashtra government’s high power committee met to discuss the semiconductor project. On July 25-26, the Shinde-Fadnavis government claimed in the assembly and also in the media that the project was coming to Maharashtra.
“This is betrayal to the people of Maharashtra. But then they went against own party to come to power now going against people of the state to serve their Delhi bosses is a natural outcome,” Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said.
After the Vedanta-Foxconn signed an MoU to set up their semiconductor plant in Gujarat, a major political controversy broke out with the NCP, the Congress and the Uddhav-Shiv Sena accusing the present government of Maharashtra of passing the deal to Gujarat on the instructions of New Delhi.
Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal waded into the controversy as he clarified that the decision to choose Gujarat was Maharashtra was an independent and professional one. In his clarification, Agarwal said the decision was taken a few months ago without specifying whether Uddhav Thackeray was the chief minister at that time. But it mentioned that in the July meeting, the Maharashtra leadership ‘made a huge effort to outbid other states with competitive offer’ indicating the role of the Shinde government.
“We have to start in one place and based on professionals and independent advice, we chose Gujarat,” Agarwal said.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said it is obvious that PM Modi gives more attention to Gujarat. “If you see the tours of Modiji, where he goes frequently? If you see the records of the last two-three months, one thing will be clear – a person has an attachment with his home,” he said.
