MVA leaders should apologise to people for losing out on Vedanta-Foxconn project, says Maharshtra BJP chief

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekar Bawankule on Monday said Shiv Sena leaders Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray and other leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) should apologise to people of the state for losing out on the Vedanta-Foxconn project. Speaking to reporters outside the Nagpur Divisional Commissionerate after a meeting, Bawankule claimed that no memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed or land was acquired for the semiconductor project during the MVA rule.

Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray held 'Jan Aakrosh Andolan' at Talegaon in Pune on September 24 against the shifting of the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor manufacturing project to neighbouring Gujarat. The Sena has claimed that the project, which entails an investment of Rs 1.54 lakh crore, was lost after the MVA government had laid the groundwork for it to be located in Talegaon.

"I have a letter which states that the Maharashtra government had not signed any MoU with Vedanta-Foxconn till now. Similarly, no land of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) had been allotted to Vedanta-Foxconn. Hence, there is no information about the survey number or agreement," the BJP leader said.


He further accused the MVA leaders of being liars and staging false agitations over the issue.

"MVA leaders should apologise to the people of the state because the Vedanta-Foxconn project was lost because of them," he said, adding that if the agitations continue, the BJP will give them a befitting reply.

Asked about the crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI) in the state, Bawankule said that all branches of the PFI in Maharashtra should be shut down and they should not be allowed to re-establish themselves in the state.

The BJP leader further said that the state government has allotted funds to the tune of Rs 1,191 crore as compensation to farmers who suffered crop losses due to incessant rainfall in east Vidarbha.

Compensation will soon be disbursed to farmers in rain-affected districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, he added.