Pune, Jan 10 (PTI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday took a veiled dig at his deputy Ajit Pawar by claiming opponents were venting out their frustration and anger due to the development
work done by the BJP.
They are trying to divert focus from development to issues that create unnecessary debate and disputes since they have nothing to show by way of work, Fadnavis said at a rally in Pimpri Chinchwad, where polls are scheduled for January 15.
Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party is part of the BJP-led Mahayuti but the two parties are fighting the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic polls separately. In a series of press conferences, the Deputy CM has claimed that irregularities and corruption had curtailed the development of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. The BJP ruled the two civic bodies between 2017 and 2022 before the state government appointed administrators.
BJP's Bhosari MLA Mahesh Landge had hit back at Pawar, leading to a war of words between the two Mahayuti allies.
Pacifying Landge, the CM said, "Our work speaks for itself, and it is because of this work that there is frustration and anger among our opponents. Try to understand this. Do not get angry just because someone else is angry. You have done your work. Just showcase it."
"Some people have no work to show and they are being questioned. Since they have no answers, they try to divert the focus from development to issues that create unnecessary debate and disputes. We have done massive work in PCMC. Just highlight that work. There is no need to give any clarification to anyone later. I am confident the BJP will win more seats than it did in 2017," the CM asserted.
Before 2017, the functioning of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation was such that a plan to construct 13,000 houses under JNNURM scheme got stalled and only 6,700 houses were built, Fadnavis pointed out.
"I will not say during whose tenure this happened (referring to the NCP-led dispensation between 2012 and 2017). The construction quality was so substandard that no one opted for those houses," he added.
After the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) was introduced and more than 6,000 houses were constructed in PCMC limits, Fadnavis said.
"If one compares the quality of the houses built under JNNURM and PMAY, the difference itself is the answer to those who are today levelling allegations of corruption," he said in a further swipe at Pawar.
PCMC is among the 29 civic bodies where polls will be held on January 15. Votes will be counted on January 16. PTI SPK BNM
