Devendra Fadnavis may include Shiv Sena-run BMC to improve infrastructure in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Good governance may be the professed article of faith for BJP’s chief ministers, but that has not stopped them to use it for political purposes. The unresolved question of running its government with a comfortable majority, and ongoing talks with Uddhav for an alliance, appear to have prompted Devendra Fadnavis to take one of the most keenly watched decisions regarding Mumbai's infrastructure favourable to prospective ally Shiv Sena as part of his overall thrust on the state capital.

Among the many pending multi-crore infrastructure projects recently cleared by Fadnavis for the state capital is the controversial but Shiv Sena’s pet favourite, coastal road project. Speaking to ET on the sidelines of ‘ ET Awards for Corporate Excellence’ on Saturday, Fadnavis confirmed that the ambiguity about who will be the nodal agency for the project has been cleared.

“We will help expedite the project by granting state-level clearances, apart from pursuing with the Environment Ministry for related clearances, but the nodal agency will be the Municipal Corporation (of Mumbai),’’ Fadnavis emphasised.

Sena has been arguing for years that the party-controlled BMC, which has been starved of any consequential multi-crore infra projects for several years, should be the nodal agency. But the state administration had not yet clarified its stand about it, weighing several options including letting private parties become project proponents or nodal agencies for the estimated.`10,000-crore worth project.

Acknowledging that his decision could play its own role, even if limited, in rebuilding bridges with its erstwhile ally, Fadnavis said, “Yes, it will play a role, in its own small way. We wish to include the Sena-run BMC in our efforts to improve infrastructure in Mumbai.”

But Sena leaders are, for now, more focused on the details in the offer from BJP for joining the government. “As a gesture, it is fine. But Uddhavji has been talking with their representatives and a proposal for coalition from them has not yet been sent. Where do such gestures stand in such circumstances?” asked former negotiator for the Sena with BJP, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Desai.

On the drawing board, it appears to be a harmless stretch of 35 kilometers between Nariman Point and Kandivali. But the controversial idea mooted to ease traffic congestion has irked the environment ministry in the past, which refused the clearance.